A Michigan lawyer who faces criminal charges for allegedly misusing voting equipment after the 2020 election is seeking a spot on the state’s top court.
Matthew DePerno is one of three Republicans campaigning for the party’s nomination Aug. 24 for a partial term on the state Supreme Court that runs through 2028. Because the state will have an additional open seat in November, the two races could shake up the partisan makeup of a court that has heard consequential cases on elections, taxes, and labor issues in recent years. And Michigan is in play again this year for the presidential election and with a close Senate race, so close races could head to the courts.
DePerno faces charges in a case related to allegations of illegally accessing voting equipment as part of an effort to show election errors after President Joe Biden won the state in 2020. DePerno was indicted on charges that include illegally possessing and damaging a voting machine. The case stems from an investigation into a group of people accused of tampering with voting equipment in search of election fraud.
DePerno was indicted last year by a citizen’s grand jury on four felony criminal charges. The case brought by the state is pending in the 44th District Court. DePerno maintained his innocence in a statement to Bloomberg Law through his lawyer last year.
Four of the seven state Supreme Court justices are Democrats, with Republican Justice David Viviano not seeking reelection and one Democratic appointee running to keep her seat. Candidates nominated by party delegates this month will continue to the November ballot, where the race is nonpartisan.
That selection method leads to partisan candidates who appear in down-ballot races where voters don’t know much about them, John Pirich, a former Michigan assistant attorney general and longtime election lawyer, said. Democrats are already using DePerno’s candidacy to paint the Republican options as extremists.
“The campaigns are very, very muted in the sense that most people have no idea in the general electorate who are qualified competent, candidates versus who are just political pawns in this particular process,” Pirich said.
Misconduct Allegations
DePerno will face attorney Alexandria Taylor and Michigan Circuit Court Judge Patrick William O’Grady for the party nomination. The GOP winner will face Justice Kyra Harris Bolden in November.
Bolden joined the Michigan Supreme Court in 2023 after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) appointed her to replace a retiring justice. The remainder of that term runs through 2028.
DePerno announced his Supreme Court run on social media and said he was motivated by “the abuse of our legal system both here in Michigan, as well as across the country.” He was among attorneys who contested former President Donald Trump’s loss in 2020 and received Trump’s endorsement for his failed bid for attorney general in 2022.
He’s also fighting a complaint by the state’s Attorney Grievance Commission that alleges DePerno violated professional conduct rules while he represented former state Rep. Todd Courser (R), who resigned in 2015 after facing expulsion, in multiple matters. The allegations include that DePerno knowingly made false statements and engaged in behavior that “reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer.”
Possible action by the Attorney Discipline Board could include suspending his license or disbarring him, though a decision will likely come after the November election, according to Bridge Michigan, a nonprofit news service in the state. DePerno told the outlet that the case amounts to political persecution.
DePerno did not respond to requests for comment to him and his attorney via email and phone. His website includes a legal defense fund for the voting machine case and says he was indicted “for defending the constitution and supporting your rights to fair and free elections.”
Competing Candidates
O’Grady is promoting his experience presiding over thousands of criminal and civil cases since he was elected in 2008 in his bid for the GOP nomination. He will “prioritize governance rooted in the letter of our laws, not the whims of our leaders,” his campaign website said.
Taylor said she’s been speaking out against “the weaponization of the judiciary.” She said her electability is based on having a message that will resonate with voters across the political spectrum.
“I’m running on what we should be running on: the rule of law and the Constitution and restoring that integrity, so that people actually have faith in the judiciary,” Taylor said in an interview.
Democrats have focused on the November race. The party has already endorsed Bolden for the partial term and Kimberly Ann Thomas for the open seat, though they will be officially nominated later this month.
A Republican majority on the court could threaten progress made by the legislature and governor on issues such as reproductive rights, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said. Democrats control the state House and Senate. The party will work to educate voters about where to find their candidates on the back or at the bottom of a long ballot, she said.
“One of the things that it is our job to do is to make sure our Democrats who are good voters or are going to vote know who the candidates are because they won’t have the Democratic ‘D’ behind their names,” Barnes said.