LANSING, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) — Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey has been in the news a lot lately, but not for lawmaking.
His comments to Hillsdale Republicans suggesting the January 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol was a hoax of some kind, his statements about “spanking” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, or inviting her to a fight outside the Capitol have resulted in a national spotlight aimed in his direction. Shirkey issued an apology for his statements, then defended his points, if not his words.
This week, he suggested the state used the votes of dead people in November’s election in an interview with Jackson radio station WKHM. About 3,500 ballots were tossed as Michigan election officials validated results and found that those people had died before November 3, but after mailing in absentee ballots, according to state officials.
“I can be, and should be, more careful,” Shirkey told WKHM.
On Monday, an analysis by Bridge reporter Jonathan Oosting noted Shirkey’s “recent string of sexist and conspiratorial comments have exacerbated a bitter, partisan feud in state government.”
In the HBO show “Last Week Tonight,” Sunday episode, host John Oliver poked fun at Shirkey for suggested the Jan. 6 insurrection was a hoax, but noted in all seriousness, “…the fact is, he’s the majority leader of the Michigan Senate. He has real power.”
While that power in Lansing may end when Shirkey is term-limited out of office in 2022, his name has been circulating as a possible candidate for governor.
Michigan Democrats have called for Shirkey to resign after a New York Times story noted his ties with Michigan militia groups.
Last week, Sen. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, told WHTC-AM/FM in Holland he’s “hardly heard from many constituents on it.” He went on to tell WHTC “we each control our own words and our own actions.
Sen. Roger Victory, R-Hudsonville, indicated to WHTC he saw Shirkey remaining as head of the Republican caucus, but also noted, “I do believe as elected officials we do need to be cautious about what we say and how that is presented.”
Both Nesbitt and Victory said they’d remain focused on legislative work and representing their respective districts.
At the same time, Cheryl Bergman, CEO of the Michigan Women’s Commission, and Holland resident Shannon Garrett, now the Michigan Women’s Commission’s chief strategy officer, issued a statement condemning Shirkey‘s remarks aimed at Whitmer in which he talked about “spanking” her, inviting her to fight in front of the Capitol, and .
“There’s a difference between the defense of strongly held policy positions and careless resorts to violent, misogynistic and xenophobic bloviating,” Bergman and Garrett wrote.
For former State Rep. Barb Byrum, that point isn’t at all lost. She wrote an op-ed called “Misogyny in Michigan” for the Dexter-based online progressive site eclectablog.com. Byrum was a state representative from 2007 through 2012. She is currently the Ingham County Clerk.
“The Mike Shirkey I knew when I served in the Michigan House of Representatives was just as bad as the one we see today,” Byrum wrote. “I called him vile in 2012 and that description continues to hold true.”
She went on to detail what she called “abhorrent treatment of women,” including male lawmakers’ refusal to permanently block a window between the Republican Caucus room looking into the women’s restroom.
While she noted funding for Shirkey’s “campaign and leadership accounts is tacit approval of his words and actions, and they cannot and should not be tolerated,” she also suggested nothing would change, writing he will “ride off into the sunset with a cushy job, making a six figure salary,” because he’s not the only perpetrator of what she called “sexual harassment, acts of indecency, insensitive and offensive remarks.”
Byrum said state lawmakers can demonstrate change with small acts, such as removing the Senate Majority Leader’s responsibility for “writing, implementing, and enforcing the Senate’s sexual harassment policy.
Given her experience in state office and his recent comments, she wrote Shirkey “clearly is not the best person to be in charge of these important functions.”
The more-conservative Crain’s Detroit Business suggested Shirkey should be “shown the door” over what journalist and Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood called ” unchecked use of misogynist and xenophobic language and peddling of debunkable conspiracy theories,” which Livengood wrote is “quickly becoming a black eye for the Michigan business community’s long-stated goal of making our politics more civility.”
