She Knows Weapon Defense Systems, the Marijuana Business, Native American Culture

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/07/2026) Rachel Keys is entering the 108th House District race as the lone Democrat.

It’s been nearly two decades since the last Democrat, Judy Nerat, represented the Delta/Menominee district. Nerat won in 2008, when Democrats were riding a strong national cycle and the district had a 52% Democratic lean. Two years later, now-Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp.) won the seat in the Tea Party counter wave.

McBroom served all six years in the House, later passing the baton to Beau LaFave, who passed it to current Rep. Dave Prestin (R-Cedar River).

So while current history may present an uphill battle for Keys, she at least won’t have to run against an incumbent, as Prestin isn't running for reelection.

Keys currently serves as museum director for the Point Iroquois Lighthouse and Museum in Bay Mills. Before that, she spent around six years working as an anti-ship cruise missile defense weapon specialist and trainer for Department of Defense waterfront battle contracts.

In that role, Keys said she and her team traveled to ships in places all over the world, like Saudi Arabia, Rota, Spain and San Diego to train sailors in real-time combat simulations. They would upload a battle simulation into a ship’s combat system suite, pretend to attack the ship and teach sailors how to recognize missile signatures, speeds and radar patterns.

Rachel Keys (Courtesy of Keys)

“If we give them enough pretend training, then when they realize that they’re in this situation in real life, they’ll be able to react that much faster,” Keys said.

She also inspected weapons and radar systems to make sure equipment was combat and weapons ready, while teaching sailors how to recognize fatigue, maintenance damage and other warning signs during deployment.

She was able to do that job after serving six years in the U.S. Navy, where she was an enlisted fire controlman and certified in advanced radar theory, weapons maintenance and weapons radar control and handling.

Keys’ educational background appears as a stark contrast to her past work experience. The Sault Ste. Marie native and graduate from Sault High School, earned a bachelor’s degree from Lake Superior State University in business administration and a separate bachelor’s degree in cannabis business, with minors in marketing and biology.

She also earned associate’s degrees from Bay Mills Community College in business management and Native American studies, which she said remains an ongoing area of study.

“I am still pursuing Native American studies,” Keys said. “I will probably forever be pursuing that because the language is dead, and I'm trying to relearn a dead language, so that's gonna take me quite some time."

The issue that pushed her hardest toward public service, she said, was health care access in the Upper Peninsula.

In 2016, Keys’ mother was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. She said there was nowhere in the Upper Peninsula that could treat it, and limited in-home or outside-the-home health care options for that kind of situation.

So, while she was pregnant she cared for her mother in her own home, frequently driving back and forth to Petoskey for treatment.

“Imagine that two-hour drive when you're chemo sick,” she said.

Her mother later died while Keys was nearly six months pregnant.

After that, Keys said the stress of planning the funeral became overwhelming. And at 31 weeks and two days pregnant, her husband of 16 years, a disabled veteran, drove her 27 miles to the nearest hospital, where their three-pound-son was born prematurely.

He was then rushed more than 160 miles to the nearest NICU in Marquette, while Keys remained hospitalized elsewhere.

“My husband was told that your baby son and your wife are fighting for their life, and they’re 200 miles apart, so you pick which one you’re going to be with,” Keys said.

Their son survived and is now 7 years old. Keys said the experience reshaped how she viewed health care in the U.P., from maternal care to elder care to veterans’ services.

“That is what really got me thinking that rural health care up here is just crazy," Keys said. "From infants, to mothers, to fathers, to the elderly, our health care system fails us at every single stage of our life.”

Those challenges, she said, extend to veterans in the Upper Peninsula, where she said the nearest VA facility can be a four-hour drive away.

“Imagine you are an old vet, and you have to drive four hours to get health care, and gas is $5 a gallon,” Keys said. “That’s not a reasonable health care plan for anybody.”

MIRS learned of Keys’ story while working on the 2026 Election Guide and Almanac, which has profiles on every statewide, congressional and state senate candidates, as well as roughly 90% of the state House candidates. To purchase a physical copy, click here.

Other candidates running in the 108th House District are Republicans Daryl Schroeder, Steven Viau, Casey Hoffman, Larry Johnson, Kurt Perron and Chris Reynolds.