Trump’s fake ads are the latest twist in the debate over Ann Arbor election proposals

ANN ARBOR, MI — The debate over Propositions C and D in Ann Arbor has taken another turn as city voters have received fake ads from Donald Trump in favor of the proposals.

“It’s time for Ann Arbor to change the way voting works. We need conservative and Republican voices at the City Council table!” state mailers have arrived in residents’ mailboxes, showing a large photo of Trump with his fist raised.

On the back is a photo of Trump giving a thumbs up and reiterating that the two proposals would help elect Republicans in Ann Arbor, where only Democrats currently win elections.

Advertisements from the Lansing-based Make Michigan Great PAC have caused a stir, with supporters of the election reform proposals calling the ads false and misleading, as Trump and the Republican Party have not actually taken a position. And in a city so heavily Democratic, the suggestion of any ties to Trump and Republicans only hurts the proposals’ chances.

The emails “purport to come from Trumpers,” but actually come from a labor group that supports Democrats, including Mayor Christopher Taylor and his council allies who oppose the ballot proposals, said Ann Arbor resident Peter Eckstein. supporter of the proposed reforms. .

Proposals on the Nov. 5 ballot aim to institute nonpartisan elections and public campaign financing in Ann Arbor.

“The shipment is totally fraudulent,” Eckstein said, noting that the PAC itself sent an email in 2022 calling a Democratic candidate for Washtenaw County commissioner the “pro-Trump MAGA pick” and urging voters to elect “a real Trump Republican.”

“This is the same fraudulent trick as the new one that purports to support C and D from a Trumpian perspective,” Eckstein said.

The tactic may have worked. Some residents have posted on social media that they will definitely vote no after seeing Trump’s ads in favor of the proposals, although others have called it a sham.

Eckstein and others point out that the PAC behind the mailers has been funded with more than $165,000 from the Michigan Labor Political League, a group that has also made thousands of dollars in donations to Taylor and her council allies. The group gave Taylor $10,000 in the last mayoral election.

Council members, including Taylor, deny any involvement with Trump’s false ads. There was no coordination with any elected officials or anyone in the “vote no” campaign, said Councilwoman Jen Eyer, D-4th Ward, saying the labor PAC simply shares their opposition.

Taylor, who is campaigning against both ballot measures, said he considers himself “Midwestern nice” and “our campaign is Midwestern nice.” Although the labor union chose a different path, he said, that doesn’t change the fact that Propositions C and D are misleading, poorly written and would allow conservatives and anti-housing Republicans to unite to oppose progressive change in Ann Arbor .

Would nonpartisan elections disenfranchise Democratic voters in Ann Arbor? Group discussion

The two proposals have divided local Democrats along factions that existed on the council before Taylor and his allies won control of all 11 seats in recent elections. Supporters of the proposals, including former council members who lost their seats, argue that the reforms would help level the playing field for candidates who don’t have much PAC money and allow more people to participate in city elections.

The proposals aim to eliminate partisan labels for mayor and council races, eliminate the city’s August primary that is currently the decisive election in Ann Arbor and establish a campaign finance fund using city taxpayer money to match small donations to mayoral and council candidates on a 9-to-1 ratio.

Debate over the proposals continued at the City Council meeting Monday night, Oct. 21, as supporters spoke and council members responded.

Anne Bannister, former co-chair of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party and one of the former council members behind the proposals, said that too often the influence of big money in local elections undermines residents’ voices.

“It’s time to put the power of our elections back into the hands of the entire community,” he said.

Councilwoman Linh Song, D-Ward 2, rejected what she called lies about dark money funding local politics, while Councilman Travis Radina, D-Ward 3, argued the proposal could invite more dark money into the city ​​elections with a donation of $50. limit for the small donor matching program.

“Because when some of the same out-of-town landlords who are funding these proposals want to fund their favorite anti-housing candidate, they’re not going to give up $50 and call it a day,” he said. “They are going to form a dark money PAC and continue to fund our elections.”

Proposition C is also misleading because it does not state on the ballot that the August primary would go away, Radina said.

Lansing ‘dark money’ attack ads target Ann Arbor ballot proposals

The Ann Arbor Future Coalition, the group behind the proposals, has noted support for its cause from Katie Fahey, founder of Voters Not Politicians, who led a citizen-led campaign to end gerrymandering in Michigan.

Voters Not Politicians issued a statement clarifying that it has not taken a position on the proposals and said Fahey has not been associated with the group since 2019.

While ads suggesting Trump wants Ann Arbor voters to vote yes have generated rumors, so has campaign literature from the Coalition for Ann Arbor’s Future with quotes from Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

“We need to empower everyday people through a system of small-dollar public financing that gives candidates an incentive to spend more time courting working people, rather than just big donors,” Warren is quoted as saying.

“It should be the power of our vote, not the size of our bank account, that drives our democracy,” Obama is quoted as saying.

“Our democracy is stronger when everyone participates, and it is weaker when people are left out,” Harris is quoted as saying.

“Campaign finance reform is the most important issue we face today, because it affects every other issue,” Sanders is quoted as saying.

Critics argue that suggests those politicians support what’s proposed in Ann Arbor, when perhaps they wouldn’t if they knew some of the details.

For example, with the proposed small donor matching program, there is no set threshold that candidates must meet to demonstrate they have community support before they can begin raising taxpayer dollars for their campaigns, Eyer said. Other cities in the country with programs of this type require that candidates receive a certain amount of small local donations, in some cases 100, 250 or more, before qualifying to access public matching funds.

John Godfrey, spokesman for the Ann Arbor Future Coalition, said the City Council would have the ability to stipulate safeguards, qualification thresholds and other administrative criteria under the city ordinance if the proposal is approved.

“The council will be able to consult with policy experts and reference a broad number of ordinances for similar small donor matching systems that have been implemented in cities large and small across the U.S. to design a fair and equitable system that benefits to Ann Arbor residents. ” said.

Eyer said she is not sure the council has the legal ability to institute criteria that are not in the ballot measure. Several legal experts have cautioned that the proposed amendment to the city charter would be implemented on its own and that the council would not have the ability to adopt a clarifying ordinance, he said.

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