Glenn’s disappointing, though not entirely surprising, dirty politics

Annette is not Gary, though. She is her own person. But recently, Annette Glenn has come across more like Gary Glenn while attacking her State Senate opponents Christian Velasquez and Tim Kelly.

You probably received Glenn’s recent campaign mailer targeting Velasquez. She claims he landed in federal court after ending a woman’s career at “a local company” so he could give her job to his buddy. Glenn also sent out a press release dramatically refunding $1,175 that Velasquez donated to her 2018 and 2020 campaigns.

Her campaign is characterizing Glenn as a hero – “Rep. Glenn had the courage to act as a whistle-blower regarding this court case,” said Stacey Ault, Glenn’s campaign manager. The campaign has tried to goad the Daily News into publishing its problematic interpretation of that lawsuit. The campaign challenged the Daily News to “just publish the facts” (that the campaign cherry-picked from the lawsuit) so that readers “can judge for themselves.” 

Here are some facts. Judge for yourselves. 

You can also read the court document – and I mean read the entire thing – if you want the whole, unvarnished truth.

According to the 2016 civil lawsuit, a woman who had been with Dow Corning for 30 years injured her eye during a work trip. After her recovery, she returned to work to an office that had been reorganized during her convalescence. She was transferred to another position. Then that job was eliminated.

The woman sued Dow Corning claiming it violated the Family & Medical Leave Act, Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act, for retaliation under the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act and gender discrimination under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

She sought $75,000 from Dow Corning.

Two years in, Dow Corning asked the court for a summary judgment – an immediate ruling on whether the case had any merit. The company’s motion was denied. In his comments, the judge called the case “complex” but ruled that there were enough discrepancies between the parties to allow the case to move forward.

None of what is in the lawsuit reflects well on Dow Corning or the eight or so people deposed in the case. It sounds like it an HR nightmare – and there is no question Velasquez, a supervisor, played some role in this mess. 

The parties settled out of court. Glenn’s campaign is using language to try to make it seem as if some judgment – other than Glenn’s – was rendered against Velasquez.

“I feel awful for voters and especially donors to Mr. Velasquez’s campaign, who he misled by failing to fully disclose this federal court ruling up front,” Glenn said in a statement defending her attack.

There was no ruling, or judgment, in the case. There was no trial.

State Sen. Ken Horn called out Glenn for the mailer, describing it as “both half-cocked and less than half factual.” 

In her press release, Glenn makes clear that Velasquez’s alleged behavior so sickened her that she wanted to “disassociate” herself from him and his money. 

Now, that’s taking a principled stand! 

Or is it?

According to her own campaign finance records, Glenn has accepted thousands of dollars from disgraced House Speaker Lee Chatfield since 2018.

You may remember Chatfield from his previous adventures, such as trying to take a loaded gun onto a plane at Pellston Regional Airport or meeting privately with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., to mull over Michigan’s 2020 election results. Lately, Chatfield has been in the news because his sister-in-law publicly accused him of raping her when she was a 15-year-old student in a high school in which Chatfield taught. 

There’s more to tell about Chatfield, but that seems like enough. Chatfield created multiple PACs to support favorite candidates like Glenn – on Aug. 9, 2020 alone, she received $10,500 from the Chatfield Majority Fund.

So did Glenn give Chatfield back the thousands of dollars he gave to her?

Glenn’s campaign refused to answer that question but did respond with “unlike former Speaker Chatfield, who has not yet been tried, convicted, or even charged, Mr. Velasquez has already been before a federal judge.”

Except Velasquez never appeared before a judge. There was no trial. There was no judgment. 

Accused rapist Chatfield should be given the benefit of the doubt, but being deposed in a Dow Corning lawsuit is enough to convict Velasquez?

 So much for taking that principled stand…

“It will be disappointing, though not entirely surprising, if the newspaper in a small company town focuses its coverage – as suggested by your questions – on trying to discredit the whistle blower for telling voters the truth,” Ault stated in an email to me.

The Daily News no longer endorses political candidates, and that’s fine with me. You don’t need us telling you which candidate to vote for. 

But to those people who have supported Team Glenn’s brand of toxic politics all these years, it might be time to finally ask yourself why.

Annette has had four years to show us who she is and if Lansing has changed her.

I think she just did that.

That’s disappointing, though not entirely surprising.

Dave Clark is editor of the Midland Daily News. Email him at david.clark@hearst.com