What is going on here in West Michigan?

He's certainly got the GOP language chops down pat

"Extreme Democrat party bosses?"

Way to hit the ground running with the gratuitous slurs, Roy.

If he's a two-term representative, then he was first elected in 2008 when Andy "DINO" Dillon was Speaker. Was Schmidt one of Dillon's allies in 2008-09? If so, that would explain a lot, and Treasurer Dillon should probably be asked about how and when he spoke to Schmidt.

Bottom Line: Who is Matt Mojzak, and how can we help him unseat this turncoat?

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." ~ Harlan Ellison

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by: helzapoppn @ Wed May 16, 2012 at 12:49:39 PM UTC

Seems clear....

Mojzak is a Republican stooge / plant, simply there to make it harder for the Democrats to find a credible candidate to run a write-in campaign in the August Primary. Which means, this whole scheme was cooked up at least as long ago as Mojzak filed. Do we know when that was?

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by: memiller @ Wed May 16, 2012 at 13:12:47 PM UTC

He filed yesterday, same as Schmidt's Republican filing

Mojzak paid the $100 fee, and his entry on the SoS database shows no documents filed and no information aside from his name and address.

So that lends credence to your theory.

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." ~ Harlan Ellison

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by: helzapoppn @ Wed May 16, 2012 at 13:18:43 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And now, Mojzak is gone...

That didn't take long.

So, now it is up to the Dems in the district to recruit a strong candidate to run a write-in campaign in the August primary.

By the way, you don't win in the primary with a single vote as a write-in. There is a complicated, three-part threshold you must meet:

In order to receive the partisan nomination, and thereby appear on the November ballot, a candidate for an office with a single winner must receive the GREATEST of the following:

1) 10 votes

2) 0.15 of 1% of the latest Census of the District

3) 5% of the greatest number of total votes for all candidates cast in the Primary of the candidate's party for any office for which there is a single winner

The first two can be calculated in advance; the third cannot but can be estimated from past results.

The second amounts to about 136 votes for a House seat (approximate). But you need to get several times that number of voters to look you in the eye and say, "yes, I will write in your name" to net that number of votes. You are asking people to do something that is out their normal range of behaviour, which is a tough thing to do.

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by: memiller @ Thu May 17, 2012 at 18:55:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Two Words: Lisa. Murkowski.

If Lisa Murkowski can win back her U.S. Senate seat in Alaska with a write-in campaign against the man who beat her in the primary (and had the full backing of the Tea Party and Sarah Palin), Democrats can surely get a few hundred write-in votes in one Michigan House District primary.

Especially with the deep outrage over "Traitor Roy's" perfidy to inspire them, and with no fake-Democrat on the ballot to confuse matters.

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." ~ Harlan Ellison

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by: helzapoppn @ Thu May 17, 2012 at 21:17:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes -- totally agree..

I suppose there are two possible reactions a local party could have to this kind of betrayal --

being energized by your outrage, or else becoming discouraged and depressed.

So this will test the mettle of Kent County Democrats. First step is to recruit an excellent candidate.

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by: memiller @ Fri May 18, 2012 at 16:59:54 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's easy to fail to qualify through primary election write-ins

It's possible to qualify for the November ballot, but you'd be surprised how low the success rate is.

It's crucial to work the absentee voters, mainly because they actually have a ballot in their hands, and you can talk to them about what need to be done, and why.

I've tried to work with half a dozen campaigns to meet the threshold requirement, and the most common response has been to assure me they had everything under control, and that absentees weren't very important in this particular district.   On election night, I couldn't find anybody to tell "I told you so."

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by: Grebner @ Tue May 22, 2012 at 04:11:54 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well...I was curious, so I checked Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/matt....

I just messaged him, basically to tell him that there are Demcorats all over the state who would support him to try and defeat the turncoat Roy Schmidt.

All he needs to do is "take the campaign seriously for six months." First step, lose the shirtless beefcake pose he's using for his Facebook profile image.

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." ~ Harlan Ellison

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by: helzapoppn @ Wed May 16, 2012 at 13:14:33 PM UTC

Spy

What the hell does Mark Brewer have to do with the Michigan House? This guy really screwed us. His staff was just as stunned, surprised and betrayed as the rest of us. Apparently, they had an in-district fundraiser just five days ago on Friday and he took the money of Democrats knowing what he was plotting to do. When I was in the Navy, I remember a guy like Schmidt: his name was John A. Walker. Schmidt was in on all of the caucus strategy meetings and campaign planning.  

Communications Guru The Conservative Media http://liberalmedianot.blogspot.com

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by: kjbas58 @ Wed May 16, 2012 at 13:20:45 PM UTC

Not surprising

IMO, Schmidt was a conservative republican from the day he was elected. He called himself a dem yes. He was a Dillon ally, yes.This is no surprise to anyone who is familiar with the man's political beliefs.
As the Dillon administration amply illustrated, a democratic administration does not mean democratic policies if conservative republicans label themselves democrats and get elected.  

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by: Chromex @ Thu May 17, 2012 at 13:26:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Seriously

My favorite quote of Schmidt's:

"I hope they'll treat me like I'll treat you," Schmidt said.

So apparently he wants people to take his money just before stabbing him in the back.

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by: Seth9 @ Fri May 18, 2012 at 02:15:40 AM UTC

WOOD-TV reporting Michigan State Police investigating Mozjak

The Michigan State Police, at the request of the Kent County prosecutor, are looking into the possibility of election fraud involving Matt Mojzak's filing to run as a Democrat in the 76th House District race.

Greetings from Detroit, Ground Zero of the post-industrial future!

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by: Neon Vincent @ Fri May 18, 2012 at 23:28:09 PM UTC

That's nice, but unless Bill Schuette and Ruth Johnson are on board, it'll go nowhere

Johnson, for one, SHOULD be open to pursuing this, even if in the most grudging manner, because of how she got to be SoS in the first place.

Two years, ago, as Oakland County Clerk facing a tough primary battle against Tea Party loon Michelle McManus, Johnson scored big headlines and much-needed name recognition when she "busted" a couple of Oakland County Dems trying to form a fake "Tea Party" slate of candidates (on their own time, and with much plausible deniability from the MDP). The plan was stupid and none of the fake candidates ever appeared on a ballot, but the paperwork was damning -- same as Matt Mozjak's affadavit.

I still believe that trumped-up story (STILL mentioned by L. Brooks Patterson as if it's relevant to the Oakland County gerrymander he orchestrated, but I digress) made all the difference in Johnson winning at the GOP Convention.

If she decides Mozjak (and whoever convinced him to sign that affadvait, and whoever notarized it, and whoever hand-delivered it to the Kent County Clerk) don't warrant the same treatment she brought down on Mike McGuinness and Jason Bauer, then she's a hypocrite and we have another issue to use against her in 2014.

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." ~ Harlan Ellison

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by: helzapoppn @ Mon May 21, 2012 at 22:15:07 PM UTC

[ Parent ]