Greetings!
Ben Orner here, MLive’s elections reporter 🗳️. Hopefully you’re off to a good weekend.
We’ve known for a while that Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office was investigating an alleged theft last year of voting machines from the 2020 election.
But that saga revealed a new twist this week when one of its central figures turned out to be Nessel’s AG opponent in November: Matthew DePerno.
In Nessel’s request for a special prosecutor, she detailed a months-long investigation into a coordinated scheme allegedly “orchestrated” by DePerno, state Rep. Daire Rendon, R-Lake City, and lawyer Stefanie Lambert Juntilla to access vote tabulators and other equipment in Roscommon, Missaukee and Barry counties.
Five tabulators, according to Nessel’s office, “were taken to hotels and/or Airbnb’s in Oakland County,” where four other people – some also connected to 2020 election fraud conspiracies like DePerno – “broke into the tabulators and performed ‘tests’ on the equipment.”
Read more: Nessel names AG opponent DePerno in voting machine probe, wants special prosecutor
“DePerno was present at a hotel room during such ‘testing,’ per the petition for a special prosecutor.
DePerno, a Republican, denied on Monday doing anything illegal, saying Nessel, a Democrat, is politically motivated despite asking for an independent prosecutor to bring charges.
“I have nothing to do with any hotel rooms or any Airbnbs,” he said on WTKG talk radio. “Ninety percent of the facts that she lays out, that she calls facts in her petition, are either false or I have no knowledge of what she’s talking about.”
DePerno was endorsed by the Michigan GOP in April, but he is not the formal nominee until delegates vote at the state party convention on Saturday, Aug. 27.
Rendon has yet to face political consequences for her alleged involvement. MLive legislative reporter Jordyn Hermani reported this week that Rendon will keep her House committee assignments, including chair of the Insurance Committee.
Here’s more from the week in Michigan politics:
Super PAC backing Tudor Dixon hides its origins despite disclosing donors
Republican voters overwhelmingly chose former conservative commentator Tudor Dixon as their governor nominee last week.
How did she do it? Millions of dollars from a super PAC probably helped.
Michigan Families United spent more than $2.5 million on ads for Dixon, MLive’s governor reporter Simon Schuster reports. That’s more money than Dixon’s campaign raised.
Political campaigns have restrictions on who can donate to them and how much they can give, but super PACs have neither. Donors and backers are often hidden as dark money.
“I wish I did know,” Jimmy Greene, who emceed an MFU event, said of the people who started the super PAC. “I really, truly don’t know who is behind the mask.”
We at least know that West Michigan’s conservative billionaire DeVos family gave $1 million to the super PAC.
Dixon will face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the general election. And as Simon has previously reported, it will likely take a lot more money and some key messaging to defeat Whitmer in November.
Raise big, win big: Top Dem fundraisers more often won primary races in House, Senate
Speaking of campaign finance, a data analysis by Jordyn and Simon found that Democratic candidates in the state legislature who out-fundraised their primary opponents won more often than Republicans.
They note that Republicans typically outraise Democrats at the state level, but a surge in Democratic dollars may have come from the hotter spotlight this summer on liberal issues like reproductive rights.
“I don’t think that there’s any doubt abortion is going to juice Democratic fundraising,” said political strategist Jason Roe.
Here are the numbers:
- 62% of Democrats in the House and Senate were the top fundraiser in their primary.
- Those Democrats won 88% of the time, as opposed to 18% for the Dems who were out-fundraised.
Despite the Democratic surge, Republicans maintain an advantage in the cash on hand – money that can still be spent throughout the campaign season. Which party holds the edge in fundraising come November will be something to watch.
Half of Michiganders hesitant to vote for candidates who downplayed Jan. 6 riot
The aftermath of last year’s Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol still occupies the minds of Michigan voters, Jordyn reports.
More than half – 52% – said in a survey conducted last week by Public Policy Polling that they would be less likely to vote for a candidate that downplayed the insurrection or opposed Congress’ work to investigate it.
“All these issues are no longer just a partisan thing,” said PPP polling analyst Jim Williams. “We see broad concern – and broad agreement – between Democrats and independent voters about what happened on Jan. 6 and the events leading up to it, Trump’s reaction to it, the Republican Party’s dealing with it and the candidates in Michigan.”
Just 16% of voters surveyed said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported the events which took place on and after the Capitol riot.
Michigan marijuana industry ‘shocked’ by plan to move licensing director
Michigan’s top cannabis official is leaving his post after nearly three years spearheading the state’s legalized marijuana industry.
MLive cannabis industry reporter Gus Burns reports that Andrew Brisbo, the executive director of the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency, is moving to a new position. The reason has yet to be disclosed.
Gus reports that members of Michigan’s cannabis industry association are “shocked and disappointed” by Brisbo’s departure, noting that they think he did “an incredible job leading the agency.”
Brisbo will transition to a new leadership role at the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs next month, a governor’s office spokesperson said, and his position will be filled by someone new.
Under Brisbo’s watch, Michigan’s marijuana industry has created over 20,000 jobs and generated $500 million in tax revenue, the spokesperson said.
More politics headlines from MLive:
Tired of left-right gridlock? Forward Party vying for Michigan’s 2024 ballot.
Michigan AG Nessel attacks Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law in court brief
Tax credits for private school scholarships? Initiative submits 520k signatures.
Sen. Dale Zorn won Michigan’s 34th House district by 7 votes. His opponent wants a recount.
‘2000 Mules’ fact check: Michigan experts debunk election fraud claims
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