Bergman, O’Malley back lawsuit to overturn Biden election victory
From staff reports
UPDATE: On Friday night, December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit, essentially stopping Trump’s last chance to attempt to overthrow the election he lost.
Michigan State Representative Jack O’Malley is one of 12 legislators who signed onto a legal brief supporting a lawsuit by the Texas attorney general that seeks to overturn President-Elect Joe Biden’s presidential victory on November 3.
O’Malley represents Michigan’s 101st district, which includes Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee and Mason counties. He won a convincing reelection in 2020 after first winning his House seat in 2018.
Congressman Jack Bergman, who represents Michigan’s 1st District including the Upper Peninsula and the northern third of the Lower Peninsula, also joined the suit together with three other Republican Congressmen from Michigan.
According to Bridge Magazine, the lawsuit—which implicitly casts doubt over O’Malley’s and Bergman’s own election victories—seeks to delay the upcoming Electoral College vote and prohibit Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia from casting electors for Biden, who won the popular vote in all four states. Biden is expected to receive 306 electoral votes, well over the 270 necessary to become president, when electors meet at 2 p.m Monday nationwide. The U.S. Supreme Court could hear the suit this weekend.
Biden won Michigan by a resounding 154,000 votes, nearly 3 percentage points. That’s more than 10 times Trump’s margin of victory over Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016. Biden won the national race over Trump by more than 7 million votes.
Biden also carried Leelanau County by 878 votes. More than 1,000 Leelanau citizens who voted for Republicans down-ballot appear to have favored Biden over Trump for president.
According to Bridge, 12 state legislators joined the pro-Trump brief. In addition to O’Malley (who lives in Lake Ann), they include GOP Reps. Gary Eisen of St. Clair Township, John Reilly of Oakland Township, Julie Alexander of Hanover, Matt Maddock of Milford, Daire Rendon of Lake City, Beth Griffin of Mattawan, Doug Wozniak of Shelby Township, Michelle Hoitenga of Manton, Brad Paquette of Niles, Rodney Wakeman of Saginaw Township, and Greg Markkanen of Hancock.
Notably, Republican House Speaker Lee Chatfield does not support the lawsuit. “The speaker’s position has not changed. Michigan will follow the law and allocate the states electors to the candidate who won the most votes,” Gideon D’Assandro, a Chatfield spokesman told the Detroit Free Press.
Chatfield and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey visited Trump at the White House last month. Both before and after their meeting in Washington, D.C., they have stated they will not attempt to overturn Michigan’s 16 electoral votes, which are decided by the state’s popular vote, not by the state House or Senate.
Prior to backing the lawsuit, O’Malley has used his near daily FacebookLive updates since the election to calm the waters and explain to constituents and supporters that Republicans in the State House don’t have the power to overturn Biden’s victory and decide Michigan’s 16 electors.
O’Malley has not posted a daily update since signing onto the lawsuit yesterday afternoon, December 10. Calls and emails to his office today have not been returned.
Editor’s note: Congressman Bergman provided the following statement this afternoon.
“This week, I signed onto the Amicus Brief in support of State of Texas v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al. I didn’t come to this decision lightly or flippantly, and I didn’t make this decision based on emotion or even frustration with the election outcome. I came to this decision because trust in the very foundation of our Republic is at stake.
“Americans are losing faith in our systems, specifically our elections, at an alarming rate. I’ve heard from numerous constituents over the past four years, on all sides of the political spectrum, concerned about these very things – interference in elections by foreign entities, voting irregularities, failure by election officials to follow current laws in place, and lack of security in absentee voting.
“In this Amicus Brief, we outline multiple occasions where the state of Michigan – specifically the Secretary of State – subverted Michigan election law and constitutional precedent which in turn created a crisis of confidence in Michigan. Every American needs to know that every legal vote is counted – and only legal votes. This can only be achieved if those administering our elections are held to the highest standard. As with many elections in the past, our case deserves to be heard by the Supreme Court, and Michiganders deserve to know their concerns are being addressed.”
