From Convictions To Attack Mailers, Race For The 1st District Heats Up

(MIRS News)

Between criminal background checks and attack mailers, the race for the special election Aug. 8 in the State House 1st District is heating up.

"That is typical of politics for 1st District. I'm not surprised. They play hardball over there," said Adolph MONGO, a Detroit-based political consultant.

"It's been a little heated for a while," said Democratic candidate and Grosse Pointe attorney Sandra BUCCIERO.

Democratic candidate and former legislative staffer Justin JOHNSON said this week he has been on the receiving end of several attack mailers. He joked that was a good sign, if other candidates considered him enough of a threat to distribute opposition literature against him.

And former congressional staffer Washington YOUSON launched a mailer attacking multiple others claiming to be the "only Detroiter" in the race out of the 11 Democratic candidates vying for the position. The 1st District covers portion of east side Detroit, Harper Woods and Grosse Pointe Woods.

But the real attention grabber came Tuesday when Detroit's Channel 2 aired a segment and posted a web story by M.L. Elrick headlined "Will a convicted felon replace a convicted felon in Lansing?"

The piece pointed out legal trouble in the backgrounds of several candidates, but most notably Democrat and former Wayne County prosecutor Tenisha YANCEY, who has four 22-year-old convictions on her record, include two felonies for retail fraud. She told MIRS she had tried to return merchandise that she did not purchase. She estimated the value of the items at about $100.

She also has a record for misdemeanor stalking. She said the charge was the result of an ongoing teenage fight and her accuser had told police Yancey had fired a gun at her home. Yancey said that wasn't true, but she pled to the stalking charge in a plea deal. And there's a fourth conviction for leaving the scene of an accident. Yancey said said the judge didn't believe Yancey had deliberately hit the other car, but he did believe there was an accident, so he found her guilty of leaving the scene.

"There were some allegations that were not true, but I am not going to pretend like I had not done anything at all. I'm not proud of it," Yancey said. "But I am proud of the fact I have turned things around and no one wants to focus on that part."

The convictions occurred when she was about 18, she said. She has since become an attorney and served for a time as a prosecuting attorney. She has also served as a Harper Woods school board member.

"The only thing that is disheartening is that my opponents use it as if it is something that occurred recently. They will not say that it happened over 20 years ago, 22 years to be exact," Yancey said. "I have told this story time and time again . . . It is a testament of what I have gone through and where I am now. That's the part that no one wants to focus on, the fact that I use it to discourage youths from making the same types of mistakes. I tell them to watch the company that they keep, make sure you choose the right friends, choose the right mate, your boyfriends and girlfriends. Your friends should also be in honors programs, too. And if they are not, you should find a new boyfriend or girlfriend."

She is not the only one with legal troubles. Candidate Burgess FOSTER was cited for carrying a concealed weapon. Channel 2 cited a breaking and entering charge in North Carolina. Those charges are 30 years old.

Johnson, too, has had legal troubles, including the issuance of bench warrants for child support.

"It was a miscommunication because (the mother) and I had been working together outside the court and they hadn't gotten any receipts from her detailing that. There was not an arrearage," Johnson contended.

Now, "the mother and I have an agreement that we are working out between the two of us. The court has a record of that . . . We decided let's get this off the books, so there is no longer case," he said.

Court records also show Johnson was sued in district court for $1,873. The judgment was entered by default. Records show the judgment has been satisfied.

"At the time, I wasn't even aware that they were trying to get ahold of me because I had moved a couple of times," he said. "It was a credit card I got while in college."

He has two tickets for driving without a license in his possession.

There are 11 Democratic candidates in the race for the 1st District, Bucciero, Johnson, Yancey, Foster, Youson, Ronald DEIBEL, John DONAHUE, Kirkland GAREY, Keith HOLLOWELL, Gowana MANCILL Jr. and Pamela SOSSI. (See "11 Dems File To Run In Open 1st House District," 4/25/2017).  

Also in the race are Republicans Mark CORCORAN and William PHILLIPS as well as Libertarian Gregory CRESWELL, but the district is considered to be solid blue.

The seat opened up when former Rep. Brian BANKS pleaded guilty to making false statements on a financial loan application and agreed to resign his seat. (See "Banks Sentenced And Won't See A Cell," 2/17/2017).

Among the Democrats, Bucciero, Johnson, Yancey and Sossi are considered the front runners.

Bucciero is disappointed the issues aren't getting more attention, chief among them protecting public education from privatization.

"I grew up as the beneficiary of public education and I feel like children don't have the same opportunities, particularly in Detroit," Bucciero said. "And a lot of that has to do with putting profit over people. That needs to change and it needs to start in Lansing." Similarly, auto insurance rates in Detroit are another example of putting profits over people, she said.

Bucciero said the campaign is going well for her.

"We have a campaign that is funded by the grassroots. We have knocked on 15,000 doors. We have been very well received at door in all corners of the district," she said.

Mike NORRIS, fiancé and campaign manager for Sossi, said he expects she'll do well in the contest Tuesday because she came in close behind Banks last November.

"She is going to benefit from all of the airplay and press time last election, which was only a few months ago," he said. "We sent out 40,000 pieces of mail in that election against Banks and we were able to establish a lot of infrastructure that we were able to reuse this election. So there were a number of things Pam didn't have to pay for, design or establish that all of the other candidates did. That alone gives her an advantage," he said.

Background checks didn't turn up any items for Sossi, but Channel 2 did note she has several late campaign filings. Norris took the blame for those.

Mongo is also a supporter, but he also argued voters in the district are tried of investigations.

"We've got federal investigation in the land bank. We got a federal investigation to the UAW. We've had a mayor go to jail. People are tired of these investigations. We've got to have somebody that's clean. We don't need to have another special election," Mongo said. "We got too many investigations. We've principals going to jail. We've got people over in Macomb County indicted. Enough is enough."