In the running for Justice of the Peace Precinct 1&3 is Michael Lewis, who has an extensive background in medicine, business, education, and is currently pursuing a degree in forensic psychology and criminal law.
Born and raised in Pampa, Michael’s entire career has been based on serving the community he loves in any capacity that can do the most good, and all of his experiences, knowledge, and education have led him directly to this point.
Michael’s journey of servitude begins as soon as he graduated high school, working in numerous doctor’s offices and nursing homes. While he was working for a particular nursing home, he was transferred to the Alzheimer’s unit working with patients. He would then get hired on at the hospital as a nurse’s assistant in the medical and surgery unit, as well as the extended care unit before going to work at the Golden Phoenix psychiatric unit for a while. After his services were requested by Dr. Da Silva, Michael would work for him for a number of years, even transferring with him when he moved his practice to Rankin, Texas.
Missing his home and the community he had loved for so many years, Michael moved back to Pampa where he would become the manager of the Sears hometown store before ultimately taking over ownership.
Michael’s experience owning and managing the store for a number of years gave him the opportunity to get to really know and bond with the community in a different capacity, greeting new and existing customers at the door and taking care of whatever need or problem they might have.
Michael would own and operate Sears for about five years until the downturn of the economy forced him to close the doors, and from there he would start a new journey in the education system, which is a whole other challenge that Michael was well-suited for.
He went to work for Travis Elementary for three years working in special education, and because he showed a tremendous amount of patience and compassion for the students, he was given a specific assignment that included a one-on-one with a student with behavioral issues. The student had a difficult time getting through classes without his behavior becoming a problem, so Michael would guide the student throughout the day. With no forced effort and an organic knack for humility, Michael successfully resolved the problem and the student was able to fully function through his classes confidently.
Seeing how well Michael had done with this particular student, he was sent to Austin Elementary to learn redirected behavior at their lab for six months, earning Paraprofessional of the Year at Travis in the meantime.
That following year, Pampa ISD would split up the elementary campuses and Michael would ultimately go back to Travis with the now fourth and fifth graders where he utilized all he had learned in the redirecting behavior lab, and it was certainly a task to say the least.
“For the kids who got out of hand in class, or they were unruly, throwing desks or things like that, I would go in there and try to talk to them and redirect them and get them to act better in class. I did really good with that and had very few issues. I’ve had handle-with-care training, so there were times we had to take the kids and remove them from the classrooms, which I hated to do, but sometimes it’s just what we had to do.”
On top of being an educator, he too began to further his own education, enrolling at Grand Canyon University where he is currently a junior and is working on earning his Bachelor’s Degree in forensic psychology and a minor in criminal law.
Every field that Michael has worked in has prepared him to take on the role of JP if he is elected, and it’s a job that he is confident he can do and do it well. As far as the truancy aspect of the job goes, Michael is well-versed in handling students who have a hard time getting through school, and believes through compassion and understanding, as well as a constructive conversation with both parent and student, he will be able to make a difference and get the student back on the right track.
“Truancy is a really big deal for me because I had my own kids go through junior high and high school, and when I worked for the school, it was difficult at times for the teachers to teach a class when students were gone and had missed so much by the time they came back. I want to focus a lot on that because if they’re not in school, they’re not learning. I want to be able to sit there and look both the kid and parent in the eye and try to figure what the real issue is and try to resolve that, and try to make it better for both of them.”
He also has experience in dealing with deaths from his time working in the medical field and is able to push those feelings aside and carry himself in a professional manner.
As far as evictions go, he understands that there must be a balance between having compassion and following the law.
“You have to understand that the landlord has a family to feed and they have to pay their bills, but at the same time you have to have compassion for the tenant who may be struggling. They may have just lost their job or it’s a single mom who’s working two or three jobs in some cases. We see that a lot-kids who have a single-parent home. It’s hard to juggle when you’re a single parent and have to deal with all that stuff, but at the same time being a business owner as well, whenever I was taken advantage of or had to take a loss on something, I had to go and fight for it. So I’ve seen both sides of it.”
Michael had taken an interest in this field a few years back, originally thinking about getting into juvenile probation or working for a juvenile detention center, which inspired him to pursue his education. Seeing the spot up for election for Justice of the Peace, he knew that was where he wanted to be.
“This is something I definitely envisioned. Maybe not this soon because I’m not through with school yet, but I’ve learned so much through that in the past three and a half years, I know I’m going to be ready for this position.”
“I just love being around people and I love this community, and I want to be able to serve in any way that I can and try to make a difference.”
Early voting will be February 17th through February 27th at the Gray County Courthouse, 205 N. Russell in Room 104. Times are: Tuesday, February 17th through Friday, February 20th-8 AM to 5 PM
Saturday, February 21: 7 AM to 7 PM
Sunday, February 22: 12 PM to 6 PM
Monday, February 23 through Friday, February 27: 7 AM to 7 PM.
Election Day, March 3: 7 AM to 7 PM
Last day to register is February 2, 2026. Mail ballots will begin going out on January 24, 2026. Last day to request ballot by mail is February 20, 2026.
