(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/06/2024) Rep. Robert Bezotte (R-Howell), who made a surprise reelection announcement after endorsing two other candidates, was disqualified Friday from the August primary.
In a letter, Livingston County Clerk Elizabeth Hundley told Bezotte and his attorney that her office "will not certify" his name to the county Board of Elections Commissioners because Bezotte "did not provide any evidence that the stated residential address" on his Affidavit of Identity (AOI) is his actual address.
"… The Livingston County Clerk has concluded that Mr. Bezotte's recitation of his residential address on the Affidavit of Identity was false," Hundley wrote.
Bezotte told MIRS Monday afternoon that he will appeal.
"I have been a Howell resident for close to three decades," he said. "My candidate filing followed the law, and my filing to the county clerk in response this week was crystal clear.
"This decision is an obvious misreading of both the text and the spirit of the law that mistakenly takes away options from the voters I serve," he added. "It must be fixed. I am accused of living at an address that I explicitly wrote on my affidavit of identity that is 3 miles away from the home I own together with my wife and is within the district. This isn't how certification is supposed to work at all."
Dan Wholihan, a local attorney who is married to Republican candidate Kristina Lyke, whom Bezotte initially endorsed after announcing he wouldn't seek reelection due to personal matters, sent a letter to the clerk's office questioning Bezotte's residence.
Bezotte listed his home as the Howell address where he and his wife lived, but at some point he began living in his daughter's home after his wife filed for divorce and accused him of physical abuse.
Wholihan's letter claims Bezotte has "spent much of the past five months in either Arizona or in Illinois."
Bezotte, a third term House member, announced in January that he would retire from public service, but in April he reversed course and filed for reelection.
Bezotte's surprise announcement shocked Lyke and fellow candidate Jason Woolford, both of whom Bezotte had endorsed.
Lyke, an attorney who met her husband through Bezotte's estranged wife, said all the candidates took an oath to follow the law.
"The law is the law," she told MIRS. "It was an affidavit of identity, under oath as a state lawmaker, county commissioner and also a sheriff. Whatever you say under oath is under the penalty of perjury, and you have to make sure that your answers are truthful and correct."
In a May 1 letter, Bezotte's attorney, Cole Lussier, told the elections' coordinator that there is "no statutory defect" in Bezotte's AOI because MCL 168.558(2) requires an AOI "include the candidate's 'residential address.'"
Bezotte's AOI listed his and his estranged wife's home on Peavy Road in the "residential address" portion and his daughter's home on Prairie Rose Drive in the "mailing address" section.
"To conclude, the complaint is facially without merit," Lussier wrote. "Assuming, for the sake of argument, that Rep. Bezotte lives at the Prairie Rose address, he indisputably listed that address on the AOI. Such strict compliance with MCL 168.558(2) does not provide grounds to deny Rep. Bezotte from appearing on the ballot."
Woolford, who claims Bezotte and his wife asked him to run for the seat more than a year ago, said when Bezotte endorsed him, they also endorsed Lyke before "jumping back in the race" is concerning.
"I'm concerned for him in the decisions he's making," Woolford said. "They just don't seem correct . . . I was surprised to see that he had gotten disqualified, but not disappointed, because the people of Livingston County and Michigan need different leadership and I'm that leadership," he said.
In addition to Woolford and Lyke, Dominic Restuccia is on the Republican ballot while Austin Breuer is on the Democratic side.
Restuccia called the last couple of weeks a "circus" in the 50th House District.
"As of last Friday, there were four candidates in the race, and I was the only one not endorsed by Bob Bezotte," he said. "While this may be entertaining political theater for Lansing, the people of Livingston County deserve better. We need representation that shows up to do the job."
