UPPER PENINSULA — Senator Ed McBroom, Representative Karl Bohnak and Representative Greg Markkanen have pulled their endorsement of Congressman Jack Bergman for re-election after Bergman endorsed former State Representative Beau LeFave for the soon-to-be-open State Senate seat that serves most of the Upper Peninsula.
Senate District 38 is currently occupied by Senator McBroom and LeFave is running against current State Representative David Preston who is supported by McBroom, Bohnak and Markkanen.
McBroom accused Bergman of being a liar. “Jack promised me he would not be endorsing in this race. I wish I could say I’m surprised that he lied to me or that this is out of character for my time working with Jack, but it’s not,” McBroom said in a press release. “I’ve seen him be disloyal to local party members, interfere in races outside his district, stab fellow Republicans in the back, and even publicly attack me. Those were internal party matters. This time is different. This time, he straight up lied to me. Now he’s siding against the clear, best option for the U.P. I will not stand by silently while he undermines the work we have done for the U.P.”
Moreover, Markkanen attacked Bergman for not living in the district, “We need a congressman who listens to the people who live here and understands what’s at stake,” Markkanen added. “Not someone who drops in for carefully staged public appearances.”
Bohnak then went on to trash Bergman’s record in Congress, “A handful of wins over ten years and token constituent service will not amount to much of a legacy if our mines and mills are shut down by crushing energy costs,” Bohnak said. “Our people need fighters, and they need the chance to earn a good living.”
McBroom made an insinuation in the press release that Bergman makes his endorsements based on the client list of Bergman’s Chief-of-Staff, “Even more disturbing is that Beau just hired Jack’s chief-of-staff’s consulting services. Jack has a clear history of automatically endorsing Tony’s clients, helping his own employee’s personal business,” said McBroom. “Regardless, I will not be voting for Jack again. He said he wanted our endorsements last summer but it’s pretty obvious he doesn’t want them now.”
Tony Lis is the Chief-of-Staff for Congressman Bergman and is a professional political operative in the State of Michigan.
According to the release from Ed McBroom, Bergman was recruited by downstate Republicans to challenge lifelong U.P. resident Tom Casperson in the 2016 congressional race. At the time, Bergman was largely unknown across the region and lived much of the time in Louisiana.
State Representative Dave Prestin responded to the news:
“For years, Congressman Bergman has been criticized for being absent from the U.P.,” said Markkanen. “This only reinforces that concern. He never contacted any of us to understand why we chose to endorse Rep. Dave Prestin. That decision was made carefully by us who live here and have worked with both candidates for years. Dave has the experience, commitment, and understanding the U.P. needs right now. He has worked as a first responder, owned a small business, and served on community boards across the”
