DETROIT — Josephine Brown, whom Metro Detroit Republicans nominated to serve on a key election board in Michigan's largest county, attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., that focused on unproven claims the 2020 vote was "stolen" from Donald Trump.
The gathering eventually spiraled out of control, leading to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Brown said she didn't participate in what happened at the Capitol and traveled to Washington simply to show support for Trump.
But Brown said she "truly believes" Trump won last year's election and she wouldn't have certified the result in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold that's been at the center for the former president's criticisms.
"If I was on the board of canvassers, knowing what I would have known about that election, I honestly don't think I would have," Brown said. "That's just being honest."
She's the latest example of individuals who have supported unsubstantiated assertions about Michigan's vote being nominated by local GOP officials to serve on county canvassing boards that are in charge of verifying election records and certifying results.
A series of court rulings, dozens of audits and a probe by the Republican-controlled Senate Oversight Committee have upheld Trump's loss in Michigan. Democrat Joe Biden won by 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points.
A Detroit News investigation on Monday revealed a trend across the state involving Republican Party leaders choosing to nominate newcomers to serve on the canvassing boards. The pattern is concerning Democrats and some experts who believe hardcore Trump supporters might refuse to certify future tallies if they gain spots on the panels.
In Wayne County, the state's largest county, the GOP congressional district chairs declined to renominate Monica Palmer for her position on the board of canvassers. On Nov. 17, Palmer and fellow Republican canvasser William Hartmann initially opposed certifying the results before changing course and signing off on them.
"I think this is clearly an attempt (to ensure) that I don't remain on the board of canvassers because I did eventually certify the election," Palmer said last week.
Among the three Republicans the congressional district chairs nominated to replace Palmer was Brown of Westland, who ran unsuccessfully for the state House in 2020. In an interview Thursday, Brown said she supports transparency and fair elections.
"Am I going into it with preconceived ideas? No," Brown said.
Asked why she believes Trump won the 2020 election, she cited the TCF Center, where absentee ballots in Detroit were counted, and said there was unfair treatment of GOP poll challengers.
"You can feel it in the air. You just knew. There were Trump signs everywhere," Brown added of why she believes Trump prevailed.
Each Michigan county has a four-member canvassing board, featuring two Republicans and two Democrats. Every two years, local party leaders have to nominate three individuals to fill one of their two slots on the panels.
On Nov. 1, two members of each board — one Republican and one Democrat — will begin new four-year terms. County commissioners are in charge of choosing the person to fill the positions from the parties' three nominees. On Sept. 24, the Democratic-controlled Wayne County Commission declined to accept any of the Republican nominees for Palmer's position.
Commissioner David Knezek said he was "deeply disturbed" by the growing chorus of people seeking to discredit the election process.
"We are talking about a group of people who seek to undermine our democracy and would gladly see it fail," Knezek added. "My colleagues and I refuse to let that happen and are not interested in providing a platform to those so deeply disconnected from reality and whose ideology is grounded in the incoherent ramblings of our nation's last president."
In addition to Brown, the four Republican congressional district chairs in Wayne County also nominated Rob Boyd of Brownstown and Hima Kolanagireddy of Northville A person by the name Hima Kolanagireddy was one of the witnesses presented by Rudy Giuliani, Trump's attorney, when he appeared before the Michigan House Oversight Committee on Dec. 2 and urged GOP legislators to intervene in the election results.
Kolanagireddy hasn't responded to requests for comment.
It's unclear whether GOP officials have nominated Boyd, Brown and Kolanagireddy for Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett's consideration after the commissioners' rejection. Brown said she was uncertain Thursday whether she was still in the running for the position.
None of the the GOP district chairs who were supposed to have been involved in picking three nominees for the canvassing slot have agreed to interviews with The Detroit News about why Palmer wasn't renominated.
During a Rescue Michigan Coalition event this week, Shane Trejo, chairman of the 11th District GOP committee, said Palmer "folded" when it came to deciding to certify the Wayne County results, according to a video posted online.
Republicans need to "stand up" to Democrats and use their "authority" to push back against "all of the evil stuff" Democrats are doing, Trejo said.
He noted that the Democrats on the Board of State Canvassers initially refused to certify Unlock Michigan's petition signatures to repeal a 1945 law that bolstered Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's early response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Out of Michigan's 11 largest counties, Republicans have nominated new individuals for the positions on canvassing boards in eight, according to a Detroit News investigation. In at least four of the counties — 36%— the incumbent GOP canvasser wanted to be renominated but wasn't.
