Todd Courser

Todd Courser
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives
from the 82nd district
In office
January 1, 2015 – September 11, 2015
Preceded by Kevin Daley
Succeeded by Gary Howell
Personal details
Born Flint, Michigan
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Namfon
Residence Lapeer County, Michigan
Alma mater Western Michigan University Cooley Law School
Occupation Attorney
Religion Christian

Todd Courser is an attorney and Tea Party[1] Republican politician from Michigan who briefly served the 82nd district in the Michigan House of Representatives. He resigned from office when it became clear that he would be expelled by the Michigan House for using taxpayer resources in an attempt to cover up his extramarital affair with fellow Representative Cindy Gamrat.

Law career

Courser was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 2006 and continues to practice law in his firm, Todd A. Courser & Associates, PLLC.[2][3]

Electoral history

Courser ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives in 2008, for the Michigan Senate in 2010, and for the state Board of Education in 2012.[4] In 2013, Courser unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, Bobby Schostak.[1]

In 2014, Courser again ran for a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 22, 2014. Margaret Guerrero-DeLuca defeated Immanuel Eickholdt in the Democratic primary. Todd Courser defeated Jacob Hunsanger, Jan Peabody and Sharna Smith in the Republican primary. Courser defeated DeLuca in the general election.[5]

82nd District
(Lapeer)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Todd Courser 15,699 55.1
Democratic Margaret Guerrero DeLuca 12,799 44.9
Total votes 28,498 100.0
Republican hold

Sex scandal

The Detroit News published audio recordings on August 7, 2015, in which Courser asked staff to create a rumor that he had sex with a male prostitute in order to distract from the affair he was having with Cindy Gamrat, also a member of the Michigan House of Representatives.[6] Kevin Cotter, the Speaker of the Michigan House, initiated an investigation into their use of public funds to cover up their affair.[7] Despite calls to resign from office,[8] Courser claimed he was being blackmailed by mainstream Michigan Republicans and would not resign.[9]

In the pre-dawn hours of September 11, 2015, Courser resigned after several hours of a stalemate on his expulsion vote. Gamrat was subsequently expelled from the House.[10] Courser announced that he would run in the special election to fill his vacated seat.[11] Courser finished in fifth place in the primary election, with less than 4% of the vote.[12]

Courser was charged with four felonies his role in the scandal on February 26, 2016, by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. He was charged with three separate counts of official misconduct, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and one count of perjury, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.[13] Courser is represented by Portage-based attorney Matthew S. DePerno.[14][15]

On June 14, 2016, Lansing District Court Judge Hugh B. Clarke Jr. ordered Courser to stand trial on two felony counts (one count of perjury and count of misconduct in office), while dismissing both felony counts against Gamrat.[16][17]

References

  1. 1 2 Livengood, Chad (December 19, 2014). "GOP Chairman Bobby Schostak Will Not Seek Re-Election". The Detroit News. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Todd Courser, District 82". Michigan House Republicans.
  3. ↑ http://www.courserlaw.com/ Courser Law
  4. ↑ "Rep. Todd Courser Has a Checkered Political Past". Detroit Free Press. August 10, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  5. ↑ "82nd District Representative in State Legislature 2 Year Term (1) Position Files In Lapeer County". Michigan Secretary of State.
  6. ↑ Livengood, Chad (August 7, 2015). "Ex-Aides and Recordings: Michigan Lawmaker Asked Aide to Conceal Relationship". The Detroit News.
  7. ↑ Egan, Paul & Gray, Kathleen (August 7, 2015). "House Sspeaker: Investigate Lawmakers for Reportedly Covering Up Affair". Detroit Free Press.
  8. ↑ "Michigan Reps. Todd Courser, Cindy Gamrat Must Resign Amid Sex Scandal". MLive. Booth Newspapers. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ Livengood, Chad; Fleming, Leonard N.; Heinlein, Gary & Bouffard, Karen (August 10, 2015). "Courser Blames Actions on Blackmail, Defies Calls to Resign". The Detroit News. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Todd Courser Resigns, Cindy Gamrat Expelled from Michigan House in Wake of Sex Scandal". MLive. Booth Newspapers. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Former Michigan Rep. Todd Courser to Run Again for Seat He Resigned". MLive. Booth Newspapers. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  12. ↑ http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/todd-courser-cindy-gamrat-fail-michigan-comeback-bids-gop-n456986
  13. ↑ Chad Livengood (February 26, 2016). "Schuette plans criminal charges for Courser, Gamrat". Detroit News.
  14. ↑ http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/04/house_speakers_attorney_fights.html
  15. ↑ http://www.depernolaw.com
  16. ↑ Chad Livengood (June 14, 2016). "Courser to stand trial; charges dropped for Gamrat". Detroit News.
  17. ↑ David Eggert (June 14, 2016). "Judge sends Courser to trial, tosses case against Gamrat". Associated Press.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.