With all the theatrics and tension surrounding the Presidential race, an interesting one has unfolded over the past few months a little closer to home, in Grand Rapids, for the 76th House District seat. In May, State Representative Roy Schmidt, a Republican, decided he wanted to change parties. He had the help of State House Leader Jase Bolger, and between the two of them they devised a plan for Schmidt to switch teams, and to win, by planting a decoy Democrat to run against Schmidt, and allowing him an easy victory.
By the time the August primaries rolled around, Schmidt had been found out, and everyone knew of his lies. There are even text messages that show just how far he was willing to go. This spurred action from others, like Bing Goei, who decided to run on the Republican ticket at the last second, only as a write-in candidate. He got 47 percent of the vote, narrowly losing to Schmidt. Winnie Brinks, a fierce door-to-door campaigner, successfully got her name on the ballot as the write-in Democratic candidate as well. The ballot is pretty crowded, however, with three other candidates.
Some staunch supporters may continue to back Schmidt, regardless of his transgressions, but the outcome will be interesting. I think an overall theme has always been that you can't trust politicians, and Schmidt has not done anything to dispel that idea. I's not sure who will win this election, but if I had to guess, I'd say that it won't be Roy Schmidt.
Wow. I don't even know what else to say but wow. I'm glad though that our country is so full of checks and balances that this kind of thing can be found out. Unfortunately, I think there are a lot of things that aren't found out that we don't know, but I'm glad these guys were caught. No one should win any seat if they cheat the system.
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