Voters must drill down in MI-7 ads to get a more accurate picture

We’ve seen Curtis Hertel push his lawnmower around and Tom Barrett take a helicopter for a spin. But a couple of other TV ads in the Lansing-based MI-7 congressional race need explaining.

Thirty seconds doesn’t do either one justice.

We’ll start with this, coming from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:

Tom Barrett “wrote a bill to make abortion a crime and put women and doctors in prison.”

Some of this is true. Some of it is not.

The measure cited in the ad was SR 8 from 2021, a nonbinding resolution sponsored by Barrett’s colleague, Sen. Lana Theis. Barrett cosponsored it. No law can be created in Michigan through a resolution — that takes a bill. This was a statement by the Republican-led state Senate in support of the 1931 abortion law, which exposed doctors who performed abortions to four-year felonies.

Michigan law has not allowed prosecuting women who seek an abortion. In 1961, the Michigan Supreme Court in the case Re: Vickers clearly stated that a woman who goes through with an abortion cannot even be charged as an accomplice. Only the physician can.

I can’t find any citation of Barrett ever supporting imprisoning women who seek an abortion. Even his 2019 dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion ban bill (SB 229) shields those seeking the abortion from prosecution.

To be accurate, the ad should read that Barrett “signed off on a measure to make abortion a crime and put doctors who perform them in prison.”

Barrett is 100 percent pro-life/anti-abortion. If that makes you uncomfortable, he’s not your candidate.

But realistically, Barrett can’t do much as a member of Congress to install a nationwide abortion ban.

Donald Trump’s Supreme Court has ordered the states to regulate abortion. Michigan’s voters made abortion a woman’s constitutional right.

A national abortion ban — even if a Republican-led Congress and president pushed one through — would be political suicide, likely getting the ball rolling on a U.S. constitutional amendment.

Next up is the Republican-leaning Congressional Leadership Fund ad:

“The governor’s chief lobbyist, Curtis Hertel ... helped broker a deal that gave $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars to a politically connected group, funded by the agency that is run by Hertel’s wife. A member of the group’s board served with Hertel’s father. And Curtis Hertel got a six-figure contract with the group.”

Most of the statements above are true, but to tie them all together and claim a conspiracy makes little sense.

Yes, Curtis Hertel Jr. was Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s chief lobbyist in 2023 and helped get the Fiscal Year 2024 budget passed. Yes, the Greater Flint Health Council, through the United Way, received a $1.5 million grant in the budget to help address housing and the needs of the homeless in Flint.

Yes, the grant is run through the Health and Human Services Department, whose director is Hertel’s wife, Elizabeth. Yes, an emeritus member of the group’s board, former Sen. Deb Cherry, served with the late Curtis Hertel Sr., 30 years ago in the state House.

Yes, Curtis Hertel Jr. contracted with GFHC after he left the Governor’s Office.

Here’s what’s missing: The contract came through the “enhancement grant” process in which legislators belly up to the negotiating table and order up their special piece of pork to entice them to vote yes.

Sen. John Cherry, GFHC chair, asked for this grant. There’s no proof Hertel had anything do to with it.

The grant — since it is health related and given out by the state — must pass through Elizabeth Hertel’s DHHS. It’s a paper-pushing task. She’s ordered by law to cut the check.

What Deb Cherry and Hertel Sr. have to do with this is beyond me.

Hertel Jr. got the contract through his friend, GFHC Executive Director Jim Ananich, who served in the Senate with Hertel. Hertel’s work before being the Ingham County Register of Deeds was at DHHS. He has some experience with this stuff.

This is pretty common in politics or business, in general. Your connections get you work. Pretty much every successful person I know does the same thing.

But if the whole thing makes you uncomfortable, Hertel may not be your guy.

(Email MIRS news service editor Kyle at melinnky@gmail.com.)