State House Candidates Decry Campaign Dirty TricksState House Candidates Decry Campaign Dirty Tricks

7/28/14 - Two candidates for state representative say they are the victim of dirty campaigning. State Representative candidate Hank Vaupel says he will ask Livingston County law enforcement officials to investigate inappropriate automated calls made to voters on Sunday morning by a group calling itself “Southeast Michigan First,” which he says were intended to confuse voters about his record. Vaupel, who is running for the GOP nomination to the 47th State House in the August 5th primary, says there is no such organization registered with the Michigan Secretary of State. He called on fellow candidates to denounce the robo calls and to discourage similar activity from happening in the final week of the campaign. “These kinds of dirty tricks lower the level of debate and I sincerely believe the voters deserve better.” Meanwhile, in the race for the 42nd State House race, candidate Rich Perlberg says more than 20 of his large campaign signs in the Brighton and Hamburg areas were stolen recently. He condemned the theft and vowed to have all of them replaced by mid-week. He has also offered $2,500 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the thefts. “We are not going to let cowardly thugs silence our campaign,” he said. “They can steal my signs but they can’t silence my voice.” Perlberg says the State Police are investigating the theft of the signs, which he valued at about $2,000. (JK)