Jason Bauer

Judge: Fake Michigan Tea Party Scheme As 'Heinous' As Attempted Murder

Jillian Rayfield | January 12, 2012, 2:22PM

At the sentencing hearing for a former official in the Oakland County Democratic Party in Michigan, the judge said that the official's scheme to put fake Tea Party candidates on the ballot was "as heinous as someone who tries to kill somebody else."

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Jason Bauer

Michigan Dem Gets Probation For Fake Tea Party Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | December 7, 2011, 5:03PM

A former official in the Oakland County Democratic Party in Michigan was sentenced to one year probation for his part in a scheme last fall to split the Republican vote by putting fake Tea Party candidates on the ballot.

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Michigan Tea Party

Second Michigan Dem Pleads No Contest In Fake Tea Party Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | November 22, 2011, 10:29AM

A former operations director of the Oakland County Democratic Party pleaded no contest to charges that he committed election fraud when he attempted to get fake Tea Party candidates on the Michigan ballot.

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Michigan

Michigan Dem Pleads No Contest In Fake Tea Party Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | October 20, 2011, 11:07AM

The former chair of the Oakland County Democratic Party pleaded no contest last week to charges that he committed voter fraud last November when attempting to get fake Tea Party candidates on the ballot in order to split the Republican vote.

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Michigan Tea Party

Two Michigan Dems Charged For Alleged Fake Tea Party Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | March 17, 2011, 1:31PM

A Tea Party rally in Michigan.

Two ex-leaders of the Oakland County Democratic Party are facing nine felony charges for allegedly committing voter fraud when attempting to get fake tea party candidates on Michigan ballots last November, as a way to pry support away from Republican candidates.

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Michigan Tea Party

Court Approves Grand Jury Probe Of Michigan Tea Party Campaign Filings

Jillian Rayfield | September 9, 2010, 1:41PM

A Tea Party rally in Michigan.

A panel of Michigan Circuit Court judges voted yesterday to authorize a one-man grand jury to investigate election fraud allegations relating to the attempt by the Michigan Tea Party to get on the November ballot.

Tea partiers and Republicans in Michigan believe the Michigan Tea Party is a part of an effort by the Democratic Party to split the conservative vote. Jason Bauer, former political director of the Oakland County Dems, stepped down from his position amid allegations that he may have committed a crime when he notarized and filed papers for 13 Michigan Tea Party candidates.

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Michigan Tea Party

Michigan Supreme Court Rules Michigan Tea Party Won't Be On November Ballot

Jillian Rayfield | September 7, 2010, 9:53AM

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled last week that the Michigan Tea Party will not be on the November ballot, echoing a decision by the state's appellate court, and putting an additional nail in the coffin for the enigmatic Tea Party group that is accused of committing fraud when filing its election ballots.

The Michigan Tea Party is believed by many tea partiers to be a Democratic operation, aimed at splitting the Republican vote in November by putting up phony candidates who aren't really tea partiers at all. State Dems have contended they have nothing to do with the Michigan Tea Party.

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Michigan Tea Party

Michigan Tea Party Still Fighting To Get On Ballot, Files Appeal With State Supreme Court

Jillian Rayfield | September 2, 2010, 11:46AM

A Tea Party rally in Michigan.

The Michigan Tea Party has filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court after an appeals court denied its bid to get on the November election ballot.

The Tea Party was denied a spot on the ballot after concerns that some of the campaign filings may have been fraudulent. Tea partiers and Republicans alike believe that the Michigan Tea Party is a Democratic front working to split the conservative vote by running dozens of candidates in competitive races. State Democrats have denied any involvement with the Tea Party.

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Michigan Tea Party

Michigan Tea Party Loses Appeal -- Won't Be On Ballot In November

Jillian Rayfield | August 31, 2010, 10:18AM

The Michigan Court of Appeals denied a bid by the Michigan Tea Party to get on the November ballot yesterday, citing "the plaintiff's failure to strictly comply with the requirements" of state election law, according to The Detroit News.

Last week, a state elections panel split on whether the Tea Party should appear on the ballot, following concerns that the former political director of the Oakland County Democrats committed fraud when he filed papers for Tea Party candidates who weren't really tea partiers at all.

The Michigan Tea Party had sought to get dozens of names on the ballot, which many tea partiers and Republicans believed was actually an effort by Democrats to use the Tea Party to split the Republican vote in the state.

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Michigan Tea Party

Probe Sought For Possible Sham Tea Party In Michigan

Jillian Rayfield | August 26, 2010, 2:27PM

A Tea Party rally in Michigan.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson is calling for a probe into the Oakland County Democratic Party in connection with allegedly fraudulent candidate filings by the mysterious Tea Party there.

Tea Partiers in Michigan claim that the Michigan Tea Party -- which had aimed to get 23 candidates on the ballot this fall -- was set up by Democrats in an effort to split the Republican vote. And the conservative Patterson is calling for a one-man grand jury to investigate whether Jason Bauer, former political director of the Oakland County Dems, committed a crime when he notarized and filed papers for those Tea Party candidates.

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Michigan Tea Party

Possible Sham Tea Party In Michigan Gets Booted Off Ballot -- For Now

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 24, 2010, 5:18PM

A Tea Party rally in Michigan.

Organizers behind the mysterious Michigan Tea Party won't see their party make the ballot in Michigan this fall unless a judge says it's OK.

Tea party movement supporters in Michigan have called the mysterious Tea Party -- which hopes to field 23 candidates this fall -- a sham organization set up by Democrats with the hopes of splitting the Republican vote. (The state Democratic Party has repeatedly denied any involvement in the Tea Party since allegations were first raised, but some Democrats have confessed to being involved in creating the Party and recruiting candidates.)

Real tea partiers vowed to challenge the Tea Party as it endeavored to make its way onto the ballot. Yesterday, they made good on their promise, packing a state canvassing board hearing that was reviewing the close to 60,000 signatures the Tea Party turned in earlier this year as part of the balloting process. Tea party activists from around Michigan implored the board not to let the Tea Party join the ballot and, they said, taint their movement's name.

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Michigan Tea Party

Evidence Mounts That Michigan Tea Party Is Democratic Front

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 29, 2010, 6:09PM

Tea Party activists in Washington, D.C.

As state officials in Michigan review a proposed Tea Party's petition to appear on the November ballot, evidence is mounting that the party is a front for Democratic supporters hoping to rescue embattled Democrats this fall.

Earlier this week, the party submitted the names of 23 candidates it wants to place on ballots across the state this fall. Though several are for statewide offices, most are running in districts where Republicans are threatening incumbent Democrats. The Detroit Free Press reports today that a local Democratic party official had a role in helping some of the candidates become members of the Tea Party. Combine that with previous reporting showing the nearly 60,000 signatures the party gathered to earn a place on the ballot having been collected by a Democratic firm called Progressive Campaigns, Inc., and you've got a recipe for some serious skepticism about the party's legitimacy.

Democratic party figures in Michigan continue to deny any connection with the Tea Party, just as tea party movement figures in the state continue to claim the party is in no way connected with them, either.

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Michigan Tea Party

Is Michigan's Mysterious 'Tea Party' A 'Sham Organization' Hatched By Dems?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 28, 2010, 8:29AM

A mysterious "tea party" is causing a stir in Michigan politics this summer. It doesn't sound like the conservative-backed tea party you've heard so much about this year, and better known elements of the movement are disavowing it. To hear many political watchers in Michigan tell it, the new Michigan Tea Party -- which has submitted 60,000 signatures to the state in an attempt to get on the ballot, mostly in races where Democrats are facing tough Republican opposition -- is nothing but a Democrat-hatched plot to siphon votes from the right and help Dem candidates win.

The state Democrats have denied any involvement in the Michigan Tea Party.

Founded by Mark Steffek, a retired UAW worker in the Thumb area, the Michigan Tea Party is trying to field "23 candidates for offices ranging from Secretary of State to Oakland County Commission," the Detroit Free Press reported yesterday. Steffek says the party's for real, though he doesn't want to talk much about it. The Free Press only managed to snag an interview with him earlier this month after "weeks of avoiding the media," and even that didn't shed much light on the mystery.

Steffek says his party is focused on "concern over deficit spending and government debt, but is also opposed to free trade agreements like NAFTA that he believes cost American jobs." Those are all solidly tea party issues. But the man helping Steffek get the party off the ground is a former Democratic party operative and aide to former Gov. James Blanchard (D). That fact, coupled with other nuggets about the party, like Steffek's refusal "to identify the source of tens of thousands of dollars" that paid for a 60,000-name signature drive that got the party on the ballot, has left many conservatives in the state crying foul.

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