WASHINGTON — Five Republican candidates for Michigan House admitted they attended the January 6th insurrection. Responding to a survey propagated by a pro-Trump group, five more Republican candidates, Mellissa Carone, Nevin Cooper-Keel, Diane Saber, Andrew Sebolt and Michael Shallal acknowledged that they attended the insurrection, bringing the known total of insurrectionist Republicans running for a seat in the Michigan statehouse up to nine. The Michigan GOP has failed to condemn the candidates who were complicit in the insurrection and failed to comment on the pro-Trump questionnaire designed to further radicalize their party. Nationwide, the RSLC isn’t too far behind and has refused to condemn any insurrectionist running for office as a member of their party or say whether attending would be disqualifying for their support.
“The blatant extremism exhibited by Republican candidates in Michigan is the by-product of the RSLC and Michigan GOP failing to condemn insurrectionists and the anti-democratic movement among their base,” DLCC President Jessica Post said. “The number of Republican candidates who participated in the insurrection continues to increase and only emphasizes the dire need to elect Democrats to state legislatures.”
The Michigan GOP and the Republican Party’s failure to reject the candidacies of the nine known insurrectionists has normalized anti-democratic extremism. Rep. Matt Maddock, who is running for Republican leader of the Michigan House with Trump’s support, attended the insurrection and received financial support from Trump’s PAC. Mellissa Carone, who is running for Michigan HD-33, has doubled down on her insurrectionist credibility by claiming that the deadly attack on the Capitol was an “inside job.” In response, the DLCC will add the five latest candidates to our ongoing tracker that displays the ever-growing number of legislative candidates as well as the group of current and former legislators who aided in attempting to overthrow the democratic process.
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