Meet The ‘Nonpartisan’ Dark-Money Group Rigging Michigan Elections So Democrats Can’t LoseA vast network of liberal dark money is using ballot initiatives to buy substantial electoral reforms that would otherwise be impossible.BY: SAMUEL T. LAIR
MAY 30, 2023
Over the past five years, Michigan has been completely transformed by a series of ruinous electoral reforms. This development, however, has nothing to do with some Trump-induced hangover or the popularity of its Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer. These reforms are part of a nationwide conspiracy concocted by a vast network of leftist dark money using “nonpartisan” proxy organizations and the ballot initiative loophole to circumvent the ordinary political process.
In Michigan, the principal puppet behind these reforms has been a little-known “nonpartisan advocacy organization” with the anodyne name of Voters Not Politicians (VNP). VNP supposedly began when Katie Fahey, a 27-year-old recycling activist, made a Facebook post about ending gerrymandering that went viral after the 2016 election.
Beyond this humble origin story, however, the details surrounding the organization are much shadier. Nancy Wang, the current executive director and a former law professor at the University of Michigan, is listed as a co-founder. Fahey has since departed the organization, and her story, once widely touted by the organization, is now nowhere to be found within their messaging.
Meanwhile, its supposed nonpartisanship had been called into question as early as 2017, when seven of its 10 board members were revealed to have donated to Democratic politicians in the past. This association with state Democrats has since only become more intimate. The current chairman of the board once served as the chief of staff to the former minority leader of the statehouse. At the same time, its vice chair is the executive director of the notoriously unbiased Michigan chapter of the League of Conservation Voters.
Even more revealing is VNP’s finances. During the 2018 election cycle, Voters Not Politicians notably received a large donation of $250,000 from Eric Holder’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee, odd for a supposedly “nonpartisan” organization. However, that donation accounted for only a fraction of the more than $16 million it received.
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Source:
https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/30/meet-the-nonpartisan-dark-money-group-rigging-michigan-elections-so-democrats-cant-lose/
