Michigan: $97K raised in failed State Representative Inman recall effort

Campaign finance filings show that $97,131 was raised in the failed recall effort against Michigan State Representative Larry C. Inman (R).

Inman, who is term-limited, was found not guilty by a federal jury found of lying to federal authorities, but were hung on charges of attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe. Inman was accused of trying to get a bribe from a union group for a vote to repeal the state's prevailing wage law. Inman blamed an opiod addiction.

The recall effort led to a notably unanimous decision by the Michigan Supreme Court allowing a more lenient standard on recall petition language. The decision overturned lower court rulings, including by the Michigan Court of Appeals, which tossed out all the signatures. The petition language was originally approved, but the petitions that were printed out left out the word "right" in the sentence: attempted extortion under color of official right."

Petitioners handed in 11993 valid signatures, 208 less than the 12201 needed. Petitioners filed 13,871 signatures total.