Tag: Mark Schauer

Last November Schauer unseated an incumbent Republican and is now a part of the largest Democratic majority of this generation.  That's a win for the Dems, any way you cut it.

It would be similarly silly to argue, though, that Schauer's sudden absence in Lansing hasn't saddled the left with a glaring (and likely very expensive) problem at the worst conceivable time.

Michigan has been trending bluer in recent years with Democrats holding both seats in the Senate, a majority in the Congressional delegation, the Governor's office and an overwhelming numerical superiority in what was, until recently, a Republican state House.  The GOP held the state Senate in 2006 by only a few thousand total votes and currently enjoys a tenuous 21-16 majority.

Control of the upper chamber after the 2010 general elections is critical since the Senate will be a major player in redrawing the state's legislative districts for the next ten years.  

For this reason more than any other, conservatives at the state and national level are thrilled about the prospect of picking up a seat and an "incumbent" designation when voters go to the polls early this November.

Former state Representative and law enforcement vet Mike Nofs has already all-but sealed up the Republican nomination for a run at the 19th state Senate district while the Democrats could very likely be staring down the barrel of a drawn out primary between bitter rivals from the state House.  

Nofs is a solid conservative with an impressive resume and a reputation as a bi-partisan problem solver.  He's also a proven vote-getter in the one largely Democratic portion of the District, the Battle Creek area (home to Kellogg's Company).  Had Schauer remained at home he likely would have faced a serious challenge from Nofs in 2010.  The Republican's chances look that much better without having to worry about a seasoned incumbent.

State Democrats aren't willing to go down without a fight, though, and are expected to bring out their "big guns."  Kalamazoo billionaire and gay-special-rights extremist Jon Stryker poured millions in soft money into legislative races in 2006 and 2008, purchasing monumental liberal gains in both chambers.  

With an entire decade of electoral advantage on the table in the 19th this fall, he is widely expected to spend more and politic dirtier.  Democrats simply can't afford this loss this year.  It'd almost be enough to make a Party wish they'd done without one extra member in Congress.

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land announced this week that Schauer has been hit with the largest punishment for campaign finance violations in the history of the state of Michigan!  According to the Lansing State Journal:

The campaign fund of former Democratic state Sen. Mark Schauer of Battle Creek is paying the state $208,250 for improperly donating money to help elect Democrats to the Senate in 2006.

Thus concludes a story we've been discussing here on Right Michigan since all the way back in December.  Of 2007.  The Battle Creek Enquirer reported at the time:

Schauer chaired the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and oversaw the Senate Democratic Fund, for which his bombastic chief of staff, Ken Brock, took over as treasurer.

The fund raked in $440,000 above the legal limit of $20,000 per person - which the Dems don't deny. Twelve senatorial candidate committees did, with Schauer's as the worst offender at $187,000.

The moolah was instantly pumped into the campaigns of four key candidates, three of whom were trounced anyway.

For state races, this is a staggering chunk of change. The grievance is pretty cut and dried (some might call it money laundering). When seven candidates got wind of the GOP's secretary of state complaint, they ostensibly demanded a refund. Marky-Mark did not.

Here's how Schauer's illegal scheme worked.  The Congressman, then a state legislator decided to go ahead and raise a bunch of illegal campaign cash.  He received illegal money from Democrats including Carl Williams, Alexander Lipsey, Bob Schockman, Gretchen Whitmer, Mickey Switalski, Buzz Thomas, Liz Brater, Mike Prusi, Gilda Jacobs, Glenn Anderson and Mark Slavens and then pitched in $187,000 himself.  Mind you, the limit is $20,000.  

Once the Democrats realized they'd been discovered each of the folks who were still working in the legislature went ahead and asked for refunds.  

Essentially they said "oops, our mistake, don't punish us for it!"  Prusi, Whitmer, Switalski, Brater, Thomas, Slavens and Jacobs all took their illegal cash back, admitting they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar and trying to make things right (well after the fact).

But no such change of heart from Mark Schauer.  When he breaks the law he stands by his criminal activity!  And he stands by his man, too.  Ken Brock, the anti-Semite who's racist comments drew the ire of everyone in Michigan except Mark Schauer, was the Senator's treasurer on this particular money laundering operation and signed all of the papers.  

Until this week there was no backing down from either of them.

Still, the settlement with the Secretary of State winds up being a peach of a deal, compared with the penalties that COULD be exacted.  Each violation of this particular statute brings along a penalty of as much as 90 days in jail and / or serious monetary fines.  Schauer admitted to twenty-two violations.
That's nearly 5 ½ years in jail.  

By comparison, I'd say Congressman Schauer got off pretty easy.  Only time will tell, though, how seriously his constituents frown on an admission from their Representative in DC that he broke the law twenty-two times.

Stay tuned Wednesday for the first interview in the state (so to speak) with the third Republican to jump into the Secretary of State's race.  We'll also be restarting our weekly segment featuring sit-downs with GOP lawmakers to explore their passions, legislative efforts and experiences at the state Capitol.  But first, today, we've got a second segment with the first SoS candidate to enter the race, Calhoun County Clerk and Register of Deeds Anne Norlander.

We first caught up with Anne a little more than a month ago today.  Several weeks later in our discussion with Senator Michelle McManus we tackled a few very specific, very important issues that we hadn't broached with Anne so I wanted to go back and make sure we got a sense of where both candidates stood.

So without further ado...