Michigan Dems Cook Up “Disgusting” Campaign Attack Mailer

If you live in the 62nd State House District, you may have seen a mailer from the Michigan Democratic Party attacking Republican candidate and Pennfield Township Supervisor Dave Morgan.    A lot of people across the district and the state are buzzing about it, and many, including Congressional Candidate Peter Meijer are calling it "disgusting."

When asked for his reaction to the mailer, Morgan said, “It's fair game to criticize someone’s record and you need to hold every elected official accountable for their record, but when you get into personal attacks on say, disabilities, family, you know, that's a no.  That's going over the line. That’s unacceptable. I was really surprised to see something so over the top, and such a personal attack.”   Morgan says he was shopping in Sam's Club in Battle Creek and had about 20 people stop him and expressed disgust about the mailer they had received.

The mailer was paid for by the Michigan Democratic Party.   Often, state political parties operate of behalf of a candidate very indirectly.    A Michigan campaign disclosure form filed with the Secretary of State's office shows the Haadsma campaign sent two payments totaling a $40,000 contribution to the Michigan House Democratic Fund.

State Rep. Haadsma told 95.3 WBCK that  he did not authorize the Morgan mailer.  "I never saw it, nor knew anything about it, until someone sent me a photograph of the mailer last Saturday afternoon, after mail delivery. I had not seen it, nor known about it, before the Michigan State Central Committee mailed it."

Haadsma said, "I had specifically spoken to a Michigan Democratic Caucus leader, two or more weeks ago, telling her I didn't want the Caucus to undertake any negative campaigning in this race. She spoke to me after I learned of the Morgan mailer in question, and she explained that she had quashed any negative TV or social media marketing, but she believed this flyer was something done before she and I had that conversation."

Morgan is the father of a 14 year-old daughter and says she was getting text messages from her classmates about it.  He says we need to remember that kids are listening.  "We elected officials need to hold  ourselves accountable and to a much higher standard than what's expected of other people, not to lower the standards which is what happened in this case.”

Haadsma said this type of campaigning is nothing new and is practiced by both parties.  He says he's been the target of many such mailers, and apologized to Morgan.  "As a Christian and as a Rotarian, I am disappointed that political experts engage in this type of political marketing. I apologize to Dave Morgan for the less than tasteful presentation of a flyer about which I had no knowledge."