Tagged: Thaddeus McCotter

Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter has decided to drop plans for a write-in campaign for the November ballot.

The decision effectively ends the southeast Michigan congressman’s tenure in Washington after five terms.

Intrigue. Deception. Conspiracy... Yes, it certainly feels like politics in Michigan is becoming a little more wrought with fraud-filled stories. In this week's It's Just Politics, we ask: are dirty politics the new normal in Michigan?

Zoe Clark: Allegations of fraud. That’s the big political story this week.

Rick Pluta: Petition fraud – it’s the new hanging chad.

ZC: Can we call this the “Hanging Thad” scandal?

RP: You are referring, of course, to Thad McCotter.

ZC: The Republican congressman from Livonia, failed presidential candidate and guitar hero is not disputing that he does not have enough petition signatures to qualify for the primary ballot.

RP: He did own up. He released a statement, accepting “full responsibility” – his words -- for the screw-up...  And then he blamed someone else, that he had trusted the wrong people. 

ZC: That’s the way the pros do it! But it’s why he doesn’t have the signatures that’s so….. weird.

Lawmakers miss self-imposed budget deadline of June 1

June 1 was the self-imposed deadline for passing the budget, but because lawmakers couldn't finalize plans on state education spending, the state legislature's budget won't be finalized until next week. MLive's Tim Martin has more on the legislature's plan for education spending.

Lawmakers did pass a bill yesterday that covers all other state government spending. Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody reports Birmingham state representative Chuck Moss said the budget bill is not perfect:

“No budget is,” Moss said during the debate on the House floor,  “But the perfect is the enemy of the good.”

Democrats opposed the budget saying it helps businesses and corporations in the state at the expense of the poor, middle class, and senior citizens.

Michigan AG launches investigation into McCotter petitions

Michigan's Republican Attorney General issued a statement yesterday saying he was starting an investigation into U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter's re-election campaign. Primary ballot petitions needed to get McCotter's name on the August primary ballot appeared to have many irregularities, including duplicate signatures. From the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog:

Attorney General Bill Schuette, in a statement Thursday, said his office will “follow the facts, without fear or favor….If evidence of criminal violations is uncovered, we will not hesitate to prosecute.”

Mr. McCotter, in a statement said, “I thank the Michigan Secretary of State & Attorney General for commencing the criminal investigation of petitions I requested Tuesday; will assist as they see fit.”

Governor Snyder visits site of wildfire in the U.P.

Governor Rick Snyder toured the site of the Duck Lake Fire in Michigan's Upper Peninsula yesterday. The fire has burned more than 21,000 acres and crews continue to fight the blaze. The Michigan DNR is asking homeowners to contact them, even if they live out of state. More on Snyder's visit from Rick Barnes at MLive:

“It’s devastating. You see the fire, you see the structures, homes burned down,” said Snyder, who was flown over the more than 21,000 acres that burned north for 14 miles, to the Lake Superior shore...

Residents could learn Friday when they will be allowed to return to their property. Firefighters are continuing to douse stubborn hot spots, and remove dangerously standing trees.

Day two of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's annual Mackinac Policy Conference is winding down but that certainly doesn't mean the politics at the event is slowing. In a special Wednesday edition of It's Just Politics, Rick Pluta, Lansing Bureau Chief for the Michigan Public Radio Network, and I take a look at the political gossip floating across the Island.

A formal investigation into possible election fraud by a congressional campaign will wait until after a state board meets next week.

The Board of State Canvassers is expected to formally reject petitions filed by Congressman Thaddeus McCotter’s re-election campaign. The petitions can then be turned over to the state Attorney General's office.

Attorney General Bill Schuette says the delay has not stopped his office from communicating with elections officials on the case.

"So it appears there is a problem, but we’ve not received anything officially yet from the Secretary of State’s office, and when we do, we’ll review it in a thorough fashion," said Schuette.

The Secretary of State’s office says it appears hundreds of signatures on McCotter’s nominating petitions were faked.

Schuette said it's a textbook example of how not to collect signatures.

"It's kind of elementary. When you run for class president, you gotta get the signatures to have the election, and it appears there’s a huge problem here," said Schuette.

McCotter has acknowledged problems with his petitions and says he plans to run as a write-in candidate on the Republican primary ballot in August.

State AG reviewing McCotter's petition signatures for possible elections fraud

U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R-Livonia) announced last Friday that his campaign found irregularities in his petion signatures to get his name on the upcoming primary ballot. The state is looking into more than just irregularities. From the Detroit Free Press:

Photocopies of petitions, dates that were cut and pasted onto the petition forms and different-colored ink on identical petitions were just a few of the tactics used to try to fool state election officials into believing that U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter had enough signatures to get on the Aug. 7 primary ballot.

"This wasn't anything that was an innocent mistake," Lansing political consultant Tom Shields said Tuesday. "It was purely an attempt to make up for a lack of signatures, which is politically criminal."

Snyder calls Michigan the "Comeback State," urges businesses to hire veterans

At the opening of the Mackinac Policy Conference, Gov. Rick Snyder said the state's economic recovery is something that should be talked about. From MLive:

"Michiganders are too humble. We don't brag well," Snyder said Tuesday as he opened the Detroit Regional Chamber's 2012 Mackinac Policy Conference. "We have to speak up more. We are the comeback state in the United States right now."

During his remarks, he also asked businesses to reach out and hire more veterans. MPRN's Rick Pluta reports:

The governor says returning veterans face an unemployment rate of about 30 percent, something he calls “unacceptable.”

“So we need to help these people,” Snyder said. “So I ask you to do everything possible to make the session and to hire ‘em. That would be great. Thank you.”

More than 12,000 to lose jobless benefits

The Detroit News reports on looming unemployment benefit cuts.

Even though Michigan's unemployment rate has dropped to 8.3 percent, 205,044 workers in the state still collect unemployment benefits. But after June 23, up to 12,212 of those long-term unemployed workers will lose their emergency federal benefits under a formula that automatically cuts them off when the state's jobless rate drops.

The race for the seat in the Michigan 11th Congressional District was expected to be an incumbent representative running for re-election in a safe district. Political observers were stunned to learn Congressman Thaddeus McCotter’s campaign messed up. The Congressman’s name will not appear on the ballot in the primary election in August.