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For you Michiganders... a glimmer of hope

In rebuke to extremism heavily Republican Michigan township recalls Clerk and Supervisor who pushed election denialism

Following is a current report from The Economist:
In a rebuke to election denialism and extremism, a small, heavily Republican township in Michigan successfully recalled a clerk who has been accused of elevating election denialism and her ally on the township board. The outgoing clerk, Stephanie Scott, and township supervisor Mark Nichols were replaced by Suzy Roberts, a retired auto industry worker and Randy Johnson, who works in the local school district, respectively.

Since 2020, Adams Township and the surrounding county of Hillsdale have become an unlikely focal point in Trump allies’ fruitless search for proof of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Scott, the local clerk, was stripped of her election administration duties by the Michigan secretary of state after refusing to turn over voting equipment for regularly scheduled maintenance. State police later initiated an investigation when part of the voting machine went missing and again when Scott was accused of sharing confidential voter data with a third party.

In interviews with the Guardian and other media outlets, Scott has maintained that she has not acted improperly.

During Scott’s term in office, national figures involved with the campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election developed an interest in the township. Patrick Byrne, former CEO of Overstock, and a key figure in Trump’s push to challenge the 2020 election, presented virtually at an “election integrity forum” in Adams Township. For legal representation, Scott turned to Stefanie Lambert, an attorney who signed on to numerous lawsuits challenging the election results in Michigan and has represented the conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell. Lambert was sanctioned by a federal judge for her role in a lawsuit that attempted to overturn Biden’s win in Michigan and asserted baseless claims about the election there.

In Adams Township, residents say the conspiracy theories and political upheaval tore at the fabric of the community. Johnson, who was elected to replace Nichols as a township supervisor, says the recall is only the first step in restoring trust in the electoral process within the divided town. “Monday night is our first board meeting that we’ll be running. We expect it to be a circus,” he said. In the long run, he said he thought that “the nonsense will go away with those two being gone.”

Comments

  • From @rono 's past descriptions of his township I'd guess that he'd be very happy.
  • I'd be curious to read rono's comments about this !
  • edited May 2023
    Interesting, considering the community. As conservative as can be for most of this state.
    The college is well know by the ultra-conservative. Ironically, Erik Prince is a alumni.
    Erik Prince has an interesting background. Blackwater had a few problems with special operations in Iraq. His sister is Betsy DeVos (Trump Sec. of Ed.). Money doesn't buy a position, eh?. She is very right and lives in western Michigan among a conservative area.
    I won't add further, as I need sleep right now. But, you may dig into the names I've noted.
    Hillsdale College

    Onward Christian Soldiers

    Nasty stuff is everywhere; not just from a pinko, commie Dem. as myself.

    Remain curious,
    Catch
  • Howdy folks,

    Indeed, Hillsdale is about as conservative as you can get. However, that's Conservative as in pulling the R lever every two years. It doesn't mean these people are stupid. The Republican party has gone so MAGA Trump that it's no longer recognizable by many traditional conservatives. My township hasn't had a democratic candidate for a local election in 12 plus years. This means that everything is decided at the Republican primary and the winners run in the fall unopposed. In the 2020, Trump won 55/45. However, we floated a 3mil tax increase and it passed 65/35. We started our campaign over two years out and had public hearings and an information program that carried the day.

    If you want to follow crazy, watch Ottawa county over along Lake Michigan. Very conservative but they pissed off some religious types over Covid policies and they ran a big campaign prior to the primary. Normal people seldom vote in the primaries . . . only the foamers. Ergo, the whackos won and are running amok. They're starting to get into trouble however, simply because they're ignorant of local government and things like 'the law'. They've pissed off Dana and she'll have their asses. They won't survive the next cycle but until then . . . stay tuned.

    Right now, bright blue Michigan is sitting pretty nice. However, that could and probably will change tomorrow.

    You get what you vote for.

    and so it goes,

    peace,

    rono
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