Familiar Faces from the Far-Left

August 4, 2022

Lansing, Mich., August 4, 2022 – Several far-left, radical, figures are moving into the foreground of Michigan’s Democrat Party and they bring with them inflamed rhetoric and extreme policy views. Below is a rundown of their viewpoints and record that Michiganders should be aware of:

Shri Thanedar

Shri Thanedar, a current state representative, has far-left approaches to policy:

• As a candidate for Michigan Governor in 2018, Thenedar supported Medicare for All policies. 
• In the same year, Thanedar faced accusations of abandoning dogs and monkeys in cages at his pharmaceutical company, which went bankrupt in 2010. 
• Thanedar also allegedly made “fraudulent and misleading representations” about his financial stake in a chemical testing company before selling his share of the company for $20 million in 2016. 
• Thanedar has used his wealth to support his previous campaigns 
  • As of his pre-primary report, he loaned his campaign more than $8 million.
  • In 2020, Thanedar loaned his campaign $438,620 for his state legislature campaign.
  • In 2018, Thanedar spent $11 million on a failed gubernatorial primary race against then-candidate Gretchen Whitmer.

Rashida Tlaib

Squad Member Rashida Tlaib is already known for her anti-semitic rhetoric and far-left ideology: 

• Speaking at the 2021 Democratic Socialists of America National Convention, Tlaib used anti-semitic tropes to defend her argument in her “fight to free Palestine.” 
• Earlier this year, Tlaib, along with other Squad members, cosponsored a resolution calling to recognize the “catastrophe” of a free state of Israel, including “not only to a historical event but to an ongoing process of Israel’s expropriation of Palestinian land and its dispossession of the Palestinian people that continues to this day.”
• Tlaib also has ties to an anti-semitic activist who implied Jewish people are “satanic” and questioned the accuracy of the Holocaust. The activist donated to Tlaib and served as her finance committee chair in 2018. 
• Tlaib also funneled $170,000 to an anti-Israel group advocating for defunding the police. 

Carl Marlinga 

Carl Marlinga, a former judge in Macomb County, has a checkered history of questionable practices:

• In 2004, Marlinga was indicted on federal corruption charges related to campaign contributions in exchange for allegedly “swapping favors in two rape cases” for his failed Congressional campaign in 2002. The indictment caused him to step down from his job as Macomb County Prosecutor. 
• In the late 90s, in a separate case, Marlinga agreed to let a 17-year-old male plead guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct after he raped his 12-year-old sister, with the male serving only six months of a two-year sentence. 

Haley Stevens

Haley Stevens, an Obama-era bureaucrat, is out-of-touch with her district: 

• During her time in the Obama Administration and before her first term in Congress, Haley Stevens served as Chief of Staff for Obama’s Auto Rescue Task Force during the auto bailout era. 
• In 2019, the Congresswoman hosted a district town hall in which she yelled, “the NRA has got to go,” ostracizing Michiganders in attendance. 
• Stevens also famously supported Medicare for All, but quietly backed away from the terrible policy. 
• Additionally, Stevens missed several votes on amendments in President Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending plan, opting to go on vacation instead. 

“The familiar faces of the Michigan Democratic Party put their own self-interests ahead of the public, and their policy positions are detrimental to Michigan families,” said Eric Ventimiglia, Executive Director for Michigan Rising Action. Ventimiglia continued, “Democrats that misrepresent personal finances, scream anti-semitic tropes, get slapped with federal corruption charges, and support Medicare for All may be the best that Michigan Democrats have to offer, but would be a bad deal for Michiganders.”