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Larry Inman recall, Michigan House of Representatives (2019-2020)
| Michigan House of Representatives recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2019 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws State legislative recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Larry Inman, a member of the Republican Party, from his elected position representing District 104 in the Michigan House of Representatives was launched in July 2019. The recall did not go to a vote.
Recall supporters criticized Inman over his indictment on three felony counts and missing over 80 votes in the 2019 legislative session.[1] Inman was found not guilty of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on December 10, 2019. Read more on the opponents of the recall here.
The recall petition was submitted to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers on July 19, 2019, and was approved on August 1.[2] Supporters needed to collect 12,201 signatures within a 60-day period to force a recall election.[3] Supporters submitted 13,859 signatures on November 22, 2019.[4][5] The state Bureau of Elections announced on January 11, 2020, that the recall petition had 11,993 valid signatures. This was 208 short of the signatures needed to force a recall election.[6]
On December 30, 2019, the state supreme court reversed a decision by the state court of appeals and revived the Inman recall. The court found that the, "recall petition is proper because the reasons given for recall in the circulated petitions were not different that the reasons that were approved by the Board of Canvassers."[7] On December 20, 2019, the state court of appeals upheld an earlier decision by the state Bureau of Elections to reject the Inman recall due to a typo.[8] The word "right" was omitted from the petition submitted in November 2019. In the petition filed in July 2019, the group described one of Inman's charges as "Attempted Extortion Under Color of Official Right." The petition language in the submitted recall petitions has to match. The Inman petition language submitted in July 2019 did not match the language submitted in November 2019.[9][10]
Inman was elected to District 104 in the state House in 2014. He was re-elected in 2018 with 50.4% of the vote.
Recall supporters
The recall petition was filed on July 19, 2019. Sondra Hardy, a former Grand Traverse County Commissioner and one of the sponsors of the recall, said that she believed that the recall would be successful. She said, "The citizens of Grand Traverse County are pretty unhappy, and there’s a lot of people here. We will be going door to door, and we don’t think we’ll have any trouble."[1] The petition listed the following reasons for recall:
| “ |
Since Larry Inman was indicted on three felony counts on May 14, 2019: Attempted Extortion Under Color of Official Right (Count 1); Solicitation of a Bribe (Count 2); and False Statement to the FBI (Count 3); Inman has filed notice asserting a diminished capacity defense and missed over 80 votes in the Michigan House of Representatives.[11] |
” |
| —Larry Inman Recall Petition[12] | ||
On August 29, 2019, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a resolution by a 98-8 vote urging Rep. Inman to resign his seat.[13]
Supreme court order
Below you can read the order by the state's supreme court to revive the Inman recall.
Recall opponents
In September 2019, Inman called the recall effort a small group and said that he had only received eight postcards asking him to resign. He said, "I can’t really measure the public and their wishes, but people right now that I [run] into in Traverse City, in the grocery store and gas stations, they all shake my hand and give me words of encouragement."[14]
Inman was indicted in May 2019 by a federal grand jury for allegedly trading votes for campaign money.[13] After the indictment was announced, Inman was stripped of his committee assignments, removed from the GOP caucus, and not allowed access to his office. On December 10, 2019, Inman was found not guilty of making a false statement to the FBI. The jury could not reach a decision on the charges of attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe. Following the verdict, a spokesman for House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R) said that Inman would not have access to his office or the caucus and would not be allowed back on committees.[15]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
Recall process
Recall is a process whereby an elected official can be removed from office prior to the end of his or her term. All elected officials in Michigan are subject to recall except judges of courts of record.[16] The process for recalling a state official in Michigan is outlined below:
- A recall petition must first be filed with the Board of State Canvassers. The board holds a hearing to determine whether the reason for the petition is factual and clear; that is the only criteria considered by the board to approve or reject the petition. Click here to learn more about these hearings.
- Once approved by the board, the petitioner must amass a number of signatures equal to 25 percent of the number of votes cast in the last general election in the electoral district of the officer sought to be recalled.[17] The petitioner has 60 days to collect these signatures beginning on the date the first signature is collected; however, the petition must be submitted to the Michigan Secretary of State no later than 180 days after it was approved by the board.[17][18]
- If an approved petition is appealed to the state Court of Appeals, then "the recall petition cannot be circulated until the Court of Appeals renders a decision or until 40 days following the date of appeal, whichever is sooner."[19]
- The Secretary of State then has 35 days to determine the validity of the signatures on the petition by verifying the voter registration status of those who signed.[20] If the petition is approved, a special recall election will be scheduled on the next general election date wherein other candidates may challenge the incumbent for the governor's seat.[17]
- If an election is forced, the incumbent may submit a justification statement for the conduct that triggered the recall which is printed on the special election ballot for voters to consider.
Clarity and factual hearing
A clarity and factual hearing is the first step in the recall process. Michigan laws state that the reason for petition must be deemed factual and clear by the Board of State Canvassers before the recall petition can be placed in circulation. The board does not document a rationale for their determination, only the judgment of rejected or approved.[17]
The board also does not have the authority to make a determination on the legitimacy of the reason for recall, nor do Michigan laws explicitly state the criteria for judging a petition as factual and clear.[17] This means that any reason for the recall can be placed on a petition and approved for circulation, so long as the reason is clearly stated and does not contain falsehoods.
Deadline
The recall petition was approved by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers on August 1, 2019. Supporters needed to submit 12,201 signatures within a 60-day period to force a recall election. The recall campaign started to collect signatures on September 23. This made the requisite signatures due by November 22, 2019.[3] Supporters submitted 13,859 signatures at the deadline.[4] The state Bureau of Elections rejected the recall petition on November 29, 2019, due to a typo. The state Supreme Court revived the recall on December 30. The state Bureau of Elections determined on January 11 that the petition fell short of the necessary signatures needed to force a recall election. The state found that only 11,993 of the signatures submitted were valid.[6]
Election history
2018
General election
Incumbent Larry Inman defeated Dan O'Neil in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 104 on November 6, 2018.
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 104
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Larry Inman (R) | 50.4 | 24,071 |
| Dan O'Neil (D) | 49.6 | 23,722 | ||
| Total votes: 47,793 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Dan O'Neil advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 104 on August 7, 2018.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 104
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Dan O'Neil | 100.0 | 11,678 | |
| Total votes: 11,678 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Incumbent Larry Inman advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 104 on August 7, 2018.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 104
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Larry Inman | 100.0 | 11,769 |
| Total votes: 11,769 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
Elections for the Michigan House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was April 19, 2016.
Incumbent Larry Inman defeated Betsy Coffia and Kelly Clark in the Michigan House of Representatives District 104 general election.[21]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 104 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Larry Inman Incumbent |
51.42% | 26,020 | |
| Democratic | Betsy Coffia | 43.21% | 21,864 | |
| Libertarian | Kelly Clark | 5.36% | 2,714 | |
| Total Votes | 50,598 | |||
| Source: Michigan Secretary of State | ||||
Betsy Coffia defeated Megan Crandall in the Michigan House of Representatives District 104 Democratic primary.[22][23]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 104 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Betsy Coffia |
79.61% | 3,584 | |
| Democratic | Megan Crandall | 20.39% | 918 | |
| Total Votes | 4,502 | |||
Incumbent Larry Inman defeated Jason Gillman in the Michigan House of Representatives District 104 Republican primary.[22][23]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 104 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Larry Inman Incumbent |
59.05% | 7,410 | |
| Republican | Jason Gillman | 40.95% | 5,139 | |
| Total Votes | 12,549 | |||
2014
Elections for the Michigan House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 22, 2014. Betsy Coffia defeated Penny Larcom in the Democratic primary. Eight candidates ran in the Republican primary; Larry Inman won, with Robert Hentschel and Isaiah Wunsch finishing second and third, respectively. Inman then defeated Coffia in the general election.[24][25][26][27][28]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Larry Inman |
53.2% | 17,394 | |
| Democratic | Betsy Coffia | 46.8% | 15,317 | |
| Total Votes | 32,711 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Betsy Coffia |
82.5% | 3,139 |
| Penny Larcom | 17.5% | 667 |
| Total Votes | 3,806 | |
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Larry Inman |
21.2% | 2,430 |
| Robert Hentschel | 20% | 2,298 |
| Isaiah Wunsch | 19.2% | 2,205 |
| Jamie Callahan | 14% | 1,606 |
| Beau Vore | 11% | 1,265 |
| Karen Renny | 9.7% | 1,112 |
| Ken Hinton | 2.5% | 288 |
| Matt Lundy | 2.4% | 280 |
| Total Votes | 11,484 | |
Historical state legislative recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 140 recall efforts against 133 state lawmakers from 1913 to 2019. During that time, 39 recalls made the ballot and 22 state legislators were successfully recalled.[29]
Michigan led the way with 36 state legislative recall efforts from 1913 to 2019. Of those 36 recall efforts, three were successful. Wisconsin followed with 30 state legislative recall efforts. Six of those recalls were successful.
See also
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2019
- Political recall efforts, 2020
- State legislative recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Detroit News, "Indicted state Rep. Inman facing recall campaign," July 22, 2019
- ↑ Michigan Live, "Recall effort against state Rep. Larry Inman can move ahead, Michigan board says," August 1, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 WNMU-FM, "Drive starts for recall of indicted Michigan lawmaker," October 7, 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Detroit News, "Michigan Supreme Court keeps Inman recall push alive," accessed December 30, 2019
- ↑ MLive, "Signatures turned in to recall Michigan Rep. Larry Inman," November 22, 2019
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 MLive, "Larry Inman recall committee short by 208 signatures, state says," January 10, 2020
- ↑ Scribd, "Sondra Hardy v Michigan Secretary of State," December 30, 2019
- ↑ The Detroit News, "Inman recall typos could go to Michigan Supreme Court," December 20, 2019
- ↑ The Detroit News, "State throws out 14,000 Inman recall signatures because of typo," November 29, 2019
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, "Missing word on petition ends recall effort against Rep. Larry Inman," November 29, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Detroit News, "7-22-19 Inman Recall Petition," accessed July 25, 2019
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Detroit Free Press, "Michigan House calls on Rep. Larry Inman to resign after 98-8 vote," August 29, 2019
- ↑ Michigan Advance, "Inman returns to House, says ‘my brain is clear’ after opioid treatment," September 3, 2019
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, "Inman not guilty of lying to FBI; hung jury on bribery and extortion," December 10, 2019
- ↑ Big Government, "The Right of Recall," February 9, 2010
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Michigan Secretary of State, "Michigan Election Law, Chapter XXXVI," accessed March 15, 2016
- ↑ In the event the Secretary of State is the subject of a recall petition, the petition must then be filed with the governor.
- ↑ Michigan.gov, "Recall Elections: The Role of the Board of State Canvassers," accessed February 12, 2021
- ↑ The petition signatures are cross-referenced with the state's qualified voter file.
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 official general election results," accessed May 2, 2017
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 Michigan Candidate Listing," accessed April 22, 2016
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 Michigan Election Results," accessed August 2, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Representative in State Legislature," accessed August 6, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Representative in State Legislature," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2014 Official Michigan Primary Candidate Listing," accessed May 27, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2014 Official Michigan General Candidate Listing," accessed September 8, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Unofficial General Election Results as of November 5, 2014," accessed November 6, 2014
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Recall of State Officials," accessed August 13, 2021
