John Michael is an American former state legislator. Michael was born in Lewiston, Maine and represented a portion of Auburn in the Maine House of Representatives from 1978-1986, 1990-1994 and 2000-2002. In 1994 he ran for US Congress as an Independent and received 8.8% of the vote. In 2002, Michael ran as an independent candidate for governor of Maine. He unsuccessfully sought clean elections funds and received 2.1% of the vote. Michael ran again for governor in 2006, but withdrew in August because he again failed to qualify for the "Clean Election" candidate funds. Included in his platform was an anti-gambling plank that would have closed Indian casinos. He also led several citizen initiatives, including two regarding term-limits for elected officials and the 2000 repeal of the "snack tax".