Black lawmakers call for probe of GOP House candidate over campaign ad with wrong election date

By Annie Grayer and Alison Main, CNN

(CNN) — Black state lawmakers in Michigan have called on the state’s attorney general and a county prosecutor to investigate Tom Barrett, a GOP candidate for the US House, over a newspaper advertisement in a Black-owned newspaper that listed the wrong date for Election Day.

The complaint from the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus alleges that the Barrett campaign potentially violated state law with the printing of an ad in the Michigan Bulletin, a Black-owned publication serving Lansing, that tells voters to vote on November 6, when Election Day is on November 5.

Ingham County prosecutor John DeWane confirmed to CNN that his office had received the complaint and had referred it to the Michigan Bureau of Elections.

Barrett faces Democrat Curtis Hertel in a competitive race to succeed Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the 7th Congressional District in Central Michigan. Slotkin, who is running for US Senate, defeated Barrett by 5 points two years ago. House Republicans are eyeing at least two pickup opportunities in Michigan as they look to defend their narrow majority, including the race for Slotkin’s seat, which Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates a Toss-up.

Barrett campaign spokesman Jason Roe called the mistaken election date “nothing but a proofing error.”

“Our campaign has been committed to outreach to the Black community and Black leaders because it is important to Senator Barrett that every community be heard in this election” Roe said. “The publisher of the Bulletin notified us of the error on Saturday and we’ve provided him with revised art for next week’s issue.”

The campaign pointed to other mailers sent to Black voters that have the correct date for Election Day.

But Democratic state Sens. Erika Geiss and Sarah Anthony, who filed the complaint on behalf of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, said the fact that Barrett’s ad has the correct date in other publications raises even more concerns and that, as of Sunday, it did not appear that the mistake had been corrected with the Michigan Bulletin.

“At best, Tom Barrett and his Campaign have committed a shocking oversight which will undoubtedly lead to confusion by Black voters in Lansing – in part because they still do not appear to have made any attempt to correct the record,” the lawmakers wrote. “And, at worst, this ad could be part of an intentional strategy to ‘deter’ Black voters by deceiving them into showing up to vote on the day after the 2024 election.”

CNN has reached out to the Michigan attorney general’s office for comment.

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