LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Donald Trump ally who faces felony charges of trying to illegally access and tamper with voting machines is seeking the Republican nomination for the highest court in Michigan, an epicenter of efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
In June, attorney Matthew DePerno announced his intent to run for the state Supreme Court, almost one year after he was charged and arraigned.
Delegates will vote on nominees Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Michigan GOP party convention for two state Supreme Court seats in a battleground state where the court has the potential final say in Michigan election matters.
Michigan Supreme Court races are officially nonpartisan — meaning candidates appear on the ballot without party labels — but candidates are nominated at party conventions. Democratic-backed justices currently hold a 4-3 majority. Republican nominees would have to win both seats to take back majority control while Democrats stand to gain a 5-2 favorability.
DePerno rose to prominence for pushing false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Trump. He unsuccessfully ran for Michigan attorney general in 2022 and lost a bid to be the GOP state party chair in 2023.
DePerno was named as a "prime instigator" in the voting machine tampering case. Five vote tabulators were illegally taken from three Michigan counties and brought to a hotel room, according to documents released in 2022 by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office. Investigators found the tabulators were broken into and "tests" were performed on the equipment.
He was charged with undue possession of a voting machine and conspiracy. A state judge has ruled it is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, to take a machine without a court order or permission directly from the secretary of state's office.
DePerno has denied wrongdoing. He's not due back in court until Nov. 21 after the general election and no trial date has been set. He also faces a separate complaint from the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, threatening his law license, over accused attorney misconduct when he represented a former state lawmaker.
DePerno in a phone interview said both the felony charges and the attorney misconduct allegations are politically motivated.
Michigan is just one of at least three states where prosecutors say people breached election systems while embracing and spreading Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
DePerno is seeking nomination to run for a partial-term seat currently held by Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after a Democratic-backed justice announced she was resigning by the end of 2022 with six years left on her term.
Bolden is seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat she was appointed to in January 2023. She is the first Black woman to sit on the state's highest bench and would be the first elected if successful in November.
Republican-backed conservative Justice David Viviano announced in March that he would not seek reelection, opening another seat.
The Democratic Party is holding its convention the same day as the GOP, Aug. 24.
Campaign finance reports showed an astounding gap between candidates seeking Democratic and Republican nominations and a serious lack of fundraising on DePerno's part.
Bolden, seeking the Democratic party's backing, has raised more than $1.1 million as of Aug. 8th, while DePerno has only raised $136, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.
DePerno has focused on shoring up delegate support, not fundraising and expressed confidence that he can out-fundraise Bolden if nominated for the general election, citing his own name recognition, he said.
"I don't think the other candidates in my race can raise any money in the general election," he said.
DePerno's Republican competitors at the party convention include Detroit attorney Alexandria Taylor and Circuit Court Judge Patrick O'Grady. Both have outraised DePerno so far by thousands of dollars according to campaign filings.
State Court of Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra and state Rep. Andrew Fink are competing for the Republican nomination for Viviano's seat. Boonstra was endorsed by Trump in May. On the Democratic side, University of Michigan Law School professor Kimberly Ann Thomas is seeking nomination for the opening.
Michigan's Democratic Party executive committee has endorsed Bolden and Thomas and they face no nominating challengers.
Thomas reported raising over $826,603 as of Aug. 8 in recent campaign filings, hundreds of thousands more than Fink and Boonstra.
State Supreme Court races have taken on new meaning in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, shifting abortion policy to the states. Millions of dollars were spent in hotly contested races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in 2023. Supreme Court races in Ohio and Montana are expected to be heated because of potential rulings on abortion.
"Michigan is one of only two state Supreme Courts in the country that could flip to a conservative majority this cycle — putting abortion access, unions and workers, and our very democracy at risk," Lavora Barnes, the Michigan Democratic Party chair, said in a statement.
Republicans in the state have framed the race as a fight to stop government overreach while Democrats say it's a fight to preserve reproductive rights.
"We continue to respect the laws that are in place in Michigan here," Republican party executive director Tyson Shepard said. "We're tired from the fearmongering from the left."
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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.