During the 1970s, Wager worked as a staff member for RepresentativesCharles Vanik and Mary Rose Oakar of Ohio, as well as SenatorLawton Chiles. More recently, Wager served as Senator Sherrod Brown's campaign finance chair. Wager is an attorney with Taft Stettinius & Hollister, where he specializes in corporate governance, strategic growth, and corporate compliance and FCPA investigations. Before joining Taft, Wager was a partner at Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP. Wager has served on the boards of numerous organizations including Clean Ohio Council, Northeast Ohio Development Fund, Cuyahoga County Renewable Energy Task Force, the White House Business Council, Cleveland Jewish Federation, Jewish National Fund, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, West Side Ecumenical Ministry, the Gateway Economic Development Corporation of Greater Cleveland, the Quicken Loans Arena, Michael Anthony Holdings Inc., Reynard American Partners, L.P., American Speedy Printing Centers and Sembcorp Utilities. Wager served on the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority from 2002 to 2009, serving as chairman by the end of his tenure. Wager had supported an aggressive plan to redevelop the Cuyahoga River waterfront and related infrastructure investment, but was not reappointed by Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson.
Michael Wager announced his candidacy for Congress in Ohio's 14th congressional district in December 2012. The seat is currently held by Republican Congressman David Joyce who assumed office in 2013, and prevailed over State Representative Matt Lynch in the May 6, 2014 Republican primary by a final tally of 55% to 45%. On March 3, 2014, Wager, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, was designated as an Emerging Race in the "Red-to-Blue" program of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Wager lost the November 4th election in a three-way contest with the incumbent Republican David Joyce and Libertarian David Macko. 2014 was an election cycle of historically low turnout in Ohio and the 14th Congressional District, as the campaign of Democratic candidate for Governor, Ed FitzGerald, faltered and adversely affected other democratic candidates. The final vote tallies:
2016 congressional candidacy
On March 15, 2016, Wager won the Democratic primary election, defeating former Ashtabula County Common Pleas Judge, Alfred Mackey. The final vote tallies:
