As primary elections for Michigan's open state Senate seat in the Saginaw Bay region inch closer, the state Democratic Party is accusing conservative groups of meddling in their primary.
The 35th District special election race is crucial, as the Democratic Party only holds a one-seat majority in the state Senate.
"To the Trump Republicans, stay out of our primary," said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr. during a press conference on Tuesday. "Stop trying to trick Democrats and try to win elections with good candidates and good ideas, not lies and dirty tricks."
The Michigan Democratic Party said that a group called ProgressiveMI is running ads and sending mailers to voters highlighting candidate and current State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh.
Democratic Party leadership says ProgressiveMI has ties to Majority Strategies, a conservative political ad agency that has worked with Michigan Republicans in the past. The Majority Strategies website boasts of having worked on 11 statewide campaigns for Republicans in Michigan.
ProgressiveMI is touting Pugh’s progressive political stances, saying she supports “Making Medicare for All a Reality & Standing Up to ICE.” The ads say Pugh will make “millionaires pay their fair share.” The ads are targeting local voters, with ProgressiveMI spending $4,700 on the digital ad campaign so far.
Hertel says the ads are an attempt to influence voters in what is expected to be a close primary election.
Greg Bowens is a spokesperson for the Pugh Campaign. While he condemns the ads, he said Democratic Party leadership has failed to address other attack ads against Pugh. A different nonprofit group, Michigan Vindicated, has sent out fliers attacking Pugh on alleged campaign finance violations. The Pugh campaign has characterized those attacks as racist.
"They have acknowledged that negative mailers in this race have come from insiders inside the Democratic Party," Bowens told WCMU. "Yet the same people today [Tuesday] who have brought this thing forward have refused to condemn or stop those negative attacks in our race."
In addition, Bowens raised issue with the slew of endorsements from Democratic state Senators for one of her opponents, Chedrick Greene. Greene is a Saginaw fire captain, retired Marine and former staffer for U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, who has also backed him in his bid for a seat in Lansing.
“We find it, disheartening, disappointing, to say the least, when we see our senior leaders in the Democratic Party, funneling money to a former staffer of theirs,” Bowens said.
The Michigan Democratic Party said it's staying neutral in the primary. Hertel said elected officials and their PACs can support whomever they prefer.
“It’s very concerning that Republicans are interfering in a Democratic primary," Greene said in a statement to WCMU. “At least one other candidate in the Democratic primary has received support from incumbent Senate Democrats. I am grateful for the support that Leader [Winnie] Brinks and others have shown my campaign.”
Bowens said they have sent a cease-and-desist letter to ProgressiveMI and are sending a similar letter Michigan Vindicated.
The ad firm, Majority Strategies, has not responded to a request for comment.
Michigan GOP Chair Jim Runestad told MLive Tuesday the squabble was “an internal Democratic Party problem.” He also called the Democratic Party hypocritical, saying “Democrats openly spent millions meddling in Republican primaries and even bragged about it," he said.
Multiple Republican primary candidates in the 35th District race did not respond to WCMU's requests for comment.
Primary elections will be held on Feb. 3.
