By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
DOWNRIVER – Two Downriver Michigan Democratic House candidates, Jaime Churches and Joanna Whaley, have been subject to threats and intimidation as the campaign heats up.
Campaign literature by their opposition was released that contained their personal phone numbers, which facilitated and encouraged a campaign of harassing phone calls.
Whaley is running in the 2nd District, which represents Allen Park, Lincoln Park, Melvindale and the northern part of Southgate, while Churches is running in the 27th District, which represents Gibraltar, Grosse Ile Township, Riverview, part of Southgate, Trenton and Wyandotte.
Five other Democratic candidates across the state have faced similar harassment.
In a phone interview, Whaley said she has received threats on social media, including a sexual assault threat, and her family has been threatened.
She said she has been threatened with hanging, and another said if she knocked on their door she would be met with a firearm.
“We get a lot of aggression, which all come when I’m talking about issues,” Whaley said.
She said while most of the threats are online, in-person threats can be quite violent.
Whaley said background checks are run when people leave threats against her online.
“My security team monitors all of my social media,” she said. “We have filed police reports in multiple states to folks who have made threats.”
Whaley said the Lincoln Park police and the Michigan Attorney General are investigating a recent potential act of violence against her that occurred when she was driving away after an event, in which an individual in a vehicle cut off her security team and, according to witnesses who were in the area, was seen as an attempt on her life.
Because of the incident, Whaley’s in-person coffee hours have been moved to an on-line platform, and she no longer advertises where she will be and at what time and date.
She said her Republican opponent, Ron Kokinda, has run ads about her and her children, which has led to more violent rhetoric on social media.
Whaley said her security presence has gone up tenfold, and instead of just hiring security for high-profile events like rallies and speaking engagements, she includes private security and even police officers when she attends city council meetings in the 2nd House District.
“I don’t do any public events now without security staff, and sometimes I feel like a circus clown walking in as the only state representative candidate with security, but it’s the reality of our politics,” she said. “Some people are really having a hard time with people who are different than them and that means it makes some people unsafe, and you just have to keep working, and working on the issues, and if that means I show up with security, I’ll show up with security.”