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| L2R: Hoekstra, Huizenga, Garcia, Joe Haveman, Meekhof |
By Brandon Hall
(Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com)
With Daniela Garcia neck-and-neck with Zeeland lawyer Geoff Haveman in absentee polling for the 90th District State House Republican nomination-a fact proven true by absentee results-Team Garcia got desperate.
After all, along with their friends at the Chamber and other places, Team Garcia spent nearly $200,000 waging war on Haveman with desperate attacks for weeks-but it wasn't working.
Garcia's campaign-headed by Zeeland political consultant Kurt VanKoevering and Huizenga Staffer Greg VanWoerkom-knew they needed a game changer.
And quick.
State Rep. Joe Haveman, Rep. Bill Huizenga, Former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, and State Senator Arlan Meekhof were also key members of Team Garcia, and they had invested too much political capital to come up short. The Huizenga Empire couldn't afford to lose on their own turf and have a pro liberty State Rep. start causing trouble-that's how empires begin to fall.
Subsequently, in a series of events that would make Lee Atwater proud, they rigged up a fake robocall saying that Democrats in the district should cross over and vote for Garcia because she was the most liberal candidate and would support ObamaCare. They then immediately sent out a robocall from State Rep. Joe Haveman that blamed the controversial robocall on Geoff Haveman.
Joe Haveman told the Detroit News he had nothing to do with the first robocall. (Yeah, ok...)
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| Haveman |
Then, the next day, (the day before the election) through the shady "616 PAC," Team Garcia sent out a disgraceful mailer accusing Haveman of trying to steal the election.
Garcia ended up winning, powered by election day voters who had been subject to the false-flag robocall and subsequent mailer-all covered on the front page of the Holland Sentinel.
In the aftermath of the robocall, politicians were full of rhetoric, but none of them actually did anything.
Arlan Meekhof claims he asked local law enforcement to investigate, but WMP has found that not to be true. So I filed a complaint with Attorney General Schuette.
Breaking: Complaint Filed With Attorney General Schuette Over Fake 90th District Robocall
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| Attorney General Schuette |
MIRS at the time wrote:
"Hall is requesting an investigation into the robocall.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Arlan MEEKHOF (R-West Olive) is asking local law enforcement to investigate, as well.
Meekhof sponsored the new law that requires disclaimers on all robocalls within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election, which became law in 2013. "The law that I passed...I take it seriously if there's some sort of violation," Meekhof said. "And we've asked local law enforcement to investigate."
Hall contends that whoever was behind the call is "seemingly" in violation of Michigan's updated Campaign Finance Act (Public Act 252 of 2013).
"It's time for substantial, meaningful action," Hall wrote Thursday. "This robocall must be investigated."
U.S. Congressman Bill HUIZENGA (R-Zeeland) weighed in on the situation via Facebook.
"Last night, a deceitful and illegal robocall went out to Republican voters by the "Ottawa County Progressive Alliance," Hall said Huizenga wrote. "Do not be tricked and do not stand for this type of dirty politics.
"Last night, a deceitful and illegal robocall went out to Republican voters by the "Ottawa County Progressive Alliance," Hall said Huizenga wrote. "Do not be tricked and do not stand for this type of dirty politics.
"Please join me and vote for Daniela Garcia tomorrow, someone that actually fought against ObamaCare and for local control of our schools."
Hall said he found it odd that Huizenga didn't call for an AG investigation himself."
Hall said he found it odd that Huizenga didn't call for an AG investigation himself."
Attorney General Schuette's office responded to the complaint with a letter this weekend:
I guess that means the next stop is Secretary of State Ruth Johnson.
Kudos to Attorney General Schuette for responding to the complaint!
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Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.
Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com
:)
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| Photo By Darlene Dowling Thompson |
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