DePerno announces Michigan Supreme Court bid amid election-related criminal charges • Michigan Advance

Matt DePerno, a Republican lawyer who ran for Michigan attorney general in 2022 with the support of former President Donald Trumpis running for state Supreme Court and faces charges for tampering with voting machines after the 2020 presidential election.

The Michigan State Supreme Court, with a Democratic majority (4-3), is not doing its duty, Deperno said in an emailed statement to Michigan Advancement.

“After observing the abuses of our legal system here in Michigan as well as across the country, it is clear that the Michigan Supreme Court needs members who are committed to upholding the Constitution and the rule of law,” he said. DePerno said. “Activist judges, prosecutors and attorneys general use their power to prosecute their political enemies. This must stop. And that’s why I’m running for the Supreme Court.

DePerno, a Kalamazoo lawyer, has won favor with Trump in the past, not just during his run for state attorney general in 2022, but again. garner support in 2023 for state Republican Party presidency.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel won re-election against DePerno, and former Michigan Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo won the presidency. losing the position amid infighting within the state party to current President Pete Hoekstra.

A staunch supporter of Trump’s debunked claims that the 2020 presidential election was full of fraud and that Trump was the rightful winner, DePerno built a campaign for attorney general largely on the theme of election security. An area of ​​interest for DePerno was Antrim County, where he filed a lawsuit to try to verify the elections after the GOP dominated the county temporarily and incorrectly reflected a Biden victory in unofficial election results due to human error, but was quickly corrected.

DePerno was billed last year as part of an investigation into the tampering of election materials following the 2020 election. The prosecution claims that DePerno orchestrated his efforts to obtain and test voting machines in 2021 alongside other indicted people. DePerno is fighting the charges.

Two state Supreme Court seats are up for grabs this November. Republican Judge David Viviano announced his retirement in March and Democratic Judge Kyra Harris Bolden is re-elected.

DePerno is running for the four-year seat on the state Supreme Court as former Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack, a Democrat, retired during her eight-year term in 2022. She was replaced by Bolden, a nomination for governor.