Michel Faulkner

Faulkner was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His mother, Queenita Hairston, a beautician, married Steve Faulkner, a Washington, D.C. police officer. After moving to D.C., he lived and attended elementary school in southeast Washington, D.C. area of Anacostia. In 1980, he was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and sociology. While at Tech, Faulkner was involved in drama and spoken word presentations where he developed his public speaking abilities. After college, Faulkner signed with the National Football League and had tryouts with the Oakland Raiders and the Washington Redskins. In 1981, he attended training camp with the New York Jets and spent the 1981–1982 season with the team as a defensive lineman. After leaving the Jets in June 1982, Faulkner returned to Washington, D.C., where he attended graduate school at CBN (now Regent University) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Faulkner moved to Blacksburg, Virginia to complete his Master's Degree in education and career counseling at Virginia Tech. After completing his Master's Degree in 1985, Faulkner met Rev. Jerry Falwell and joined Liberty University as Assistant Dean of Students. In 1987, he was promoted to Vice President for Urban Ministry. In 1988, he moved from Lynchburg, Virginia to the Times Square area of Manhattan. == Ministry ==

In 1988, Faulkner served as assistant pastor of Lamb's Church in Times Square. Faulkner held the position of Vice President for Community Government Relations at King’s College from 1988 to 1992. In 1989, Faulkner joined Calvary Baptist Church in Midtown Manhattan as a youth pastor. Faulkner was ordained at Calvary Baptist Church in December 1991. In 1993, Faulkner became the senior pastor of Central Baptist Church in Manhattan. From June 2002 to February 2004, Faulkner served as World Vision’s Director of U.S. Programs. He oversaw the distribution of over $1 million in faith-based community and youth development grants to eight local churches in New York City. In June 2006, Faulkner founded the New Horizon Church of New York in Harlem. Faulkner describes New Horizon as a Christ-centered congregation focused on "bringing light to the darkness, and being an agent of transformation to bring the Gospel to Harlem." == Community and civic work ==

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appointed Faulkner to the Task Force on Police Community Relations following Faulkner's work on Giuliani's campaign. Faulkner serves as President of the IFL. The IFL received a grant from New York State Health Foundation in 2009 to run a statewide diabetes campaign for the faith-based community. ==Political career==

In February 2010, Faulkner announced his candidacy to run as the Republican, Conservative and Jobs Now nominee, challenging Democratic and Working Families incumbent Charlie Rangel for . Faulkner was inspired to run for office by Scott Brown's successful election to Ted Kennedy's former Senate seat. Faulkner was endorsed by Sean Hannity, the New York Right to Life Party, In the November 2, 2010, general election, Faulkner received 9,235 votes (10%) of the 102,176 total votes cast, as Rangel won with 80% of the vote. New York City 2017 On September 21, 2015, Faulkner, a registered Republican, announced his candidacy for the 2017 New York City mayoral race, thus becoming the first official candidate to contest incumbent mayor, Bill de Blasio. and endorsed rival Paul Massey for Mayor. On November 7, 2017, Faulkner was defeated by incumbent Democratic Comptroller Scott Stringer by a margin of 76.72% to 19.50%. Political issues Faulkner is anti-abortion. Faulkner has been critical of the law, stating that it was enacted before legislators had read it, it increases federal regulation of health care, it did not contain a provision on tort reform, it did not deregulate insurance sales between states, and it would lead to higher costs and lost jobs. Faulkner has been critical of the Obama administration's handling of foreign policy, especially as it pertains to Israel. He believes that the national security of the United States is "inextricably tied to Israel's security", and that the U.S. must "ensure that Israel's security is not compromised." Faulkner believes that the real threat to peace in the Middle East is not Israel, but rather the "terrorists such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iranian proxies." Faulkner has also stated that Obama assisted in the delegitimization of Israel and as such Obama's actions "fuel feelings of anti-Semitism." Faulkner stated that government spending was an important issue for him: "My campaign is not just about Mr. Rangel and his recent indiscretions. It is about stopping the direction in which the government, led by his party, is going. The growing size of the federal government is unbelievable. That’s a bigger scandal than the ethics issue—the size of the debt, the unbridled spending." During his 2010 congressional campaign, Faulkner appeared on the Imus In The Morning show on Fox Business and WABC, the John Batchelor Show on WABC, the Hannity show on Fox News Channel, and Soul Matters with Rabbi Shimshon Nadel on Arutz 7/Israel National Radio to promote his candidacy. ==Personal life==

Faulkner was married to his first wife, Virginia, for 31 years until her death in 2014. They had three children. Faulkner is currently married to Sarai Padilla, a psychologist. ==Published works==

• Restoring The American Dream, Camden House Books, a division of Word & Spirit Resources, (2010) . ==References==