Leadership We Can Be Proud Of

Oct 13, 2026

Unlike Republicans, we have leaders with integrity. Pictured (L to R) are Pete Buttigieg, Callie Barr, Veronica Welter, and Debbie Stabenow.

IN MEMORIUM

We are saddened to share the news that Jim McKimmy passed away on October 1. Jim was Chair of the Antrim Dems for many years prior to our current chair. Jim was a courageous activist. We can think of no better way to give you insight into Jim than to share what his children had to say upon his passing. CLICK HERE —>

THREE MAJOR EVENTS THIS MONTH

We want to highlight three major things happening in the next few days. On October 14 the kickoff of the Recall Campaign for Victoria Bishop begins with signature collections in Elk Rapids and Mancelona, along with a caravan and rally in Bellaire. On October 17, there are No Kings Rallies in Elk Rapids, Bellaire and Traverse City. And most importantly, Early in-person voting begins on October 25. More on each of these events below.

The Victoria Bishop Recall Petition drive is on. Signature gathering began yesterday (October 14) with signature collections in front of the Elk Rapids and Mancelona Post Offices and a vehicle caravan to RIchardi Park in Bellaire where signature gathering continued and speeches about the recall effort were well-received.

Over the next 60 days, volunteers will stage signature gathering opportunities across the County as well as go door-to-door in a bipartisan effort to collect 4,500 signatures of Antrim voters. Getting that number of signatures in 60 days will be extremely difficult in a rural County of just 22,000 voters during the late Fall. Success is far from guaranteed.

The Legislature made recall difficult to do because it should be reserved for unusual circumstances where a public official’s conduct is so abhorrent that continuation in office would be a great disservice to the citizens. Unfortunately, that is the situation we are in.

If successful in gathering enough signatures, a special election will be held in May 2027. Bishop will automatically be the Republican nominee. Organizers are in the process of identifying one individual to endorse in opposition.

The language of the petition reads:

Between July 24, 2025, and June 3, 2026, Antrim County Clerk Victoria Bishop changed voter status codes in the Qualified Voter File to ‘Cancel’. For example, Bishop changed six voter records in Mancelona Township to ‘Cancel’ on January 9, January 13, January 23, January 27, January 29, and April 16, 2026. The township clerks responsible for those voter records had not asked Bishop to make those changes on their behalf.

The Committee to Recall Victoria Bishop needs your help:

Commit to signing the petition
Volunteer to help gather signatures (every signature is critical)
Click: https://www.recallvbishop.org/volunteer
Donate to cover expenses. Click: https://www.recallvbishop.org/donate
Visit their website for more information including where and when you can sign or to request a volunteer come to your door. Click: recallvbishop.org
Call Allen Wolf with questions at 248-687-9656.

Why Should Bishop Be Recalled?

The Petition itself would not allow us the space to put in all the reasons Bishop should not be our Clerk. Here is a partial list:

She filed a false campaign finance report. She falsely claimed her husband made loans and donations to her campaign of about $15,000. She was formally reprimanded by the Bureau of Elections for this.

In a supposedly corrected filing, she claimed to have donated $10,000 in cash to her campaign in excess of the $20 legal limit and could provide no paper trail of the source of the funds.

She admitted that she hadn’t filed tax returns on her radio station business or personally as far back as she could remember.

She admitted that she had paid no taxes and failed to keep any business records, tax records or campaign records.

She was found to be in Contempt of Court and order to pay fines and costs of about $12,000 which had to be garnished from her clerk wages.

If that wasn’t enough, she gave her husband, a twice convicted felon, unsupervised access to her Clerk’s Office and her computer.

She has mailed out about 1800 cancellation or verification postcards with multiple deficiencies to voters. Even if she had done this correctly, this is not actually something done by County Clerks. Some of the people getting the postcards had just voted while some were people not even on the voter rolls.

She has made at least 128 changes in the QVF that she was not authorized to make.

She defended her actions with a newspaper ad paid for by taxpayers claiming she had a mandate from the people to do these illegal things.

The Bureau of Elections has found her conduct so egregious that they have removed her access to the Qualified Voter File until she gets trained and pledges to follow the law. She has not met those requirements or even pledged to do so.

A lawsuit against Randy Bishop and Victoria Bishop’s radio station (of which she is the sole owner) was found guilty of defamation recently and the Bishops have agreed to pay damages in a secret, sealed settlement so that their followers will never know the details of their admission of guilt.

Just last month she claimed to be too busy to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request before the November election. Michigan law requires a response within 5 days normally and, in extenuating circumstances, allows an additional 10 days.

At the end of September, her office failed to mail out absentee ballots by the legally mandated date for the November election.

We believe she may be the worst Clerk to ever serve in this County if not this State.

Office Hours and Weekly Rallies

Once again, we have campaign office hours, although this year, we have a refreshing en plein air office located in front of 209 River Street. The office is staffed on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Plenty of campaign signs are now available.

We also have a weekly rally on Wednesdays. The weekly rally is in Elk Rapids from 4:30 to 5:30 pm at the same Park ’n Ride lot opposite the EZ Mart/Mobil station on U.S. 31 (near 100 1st Street). Join us on October 21 and October 28.

NO KINGS RALLIES ON OCTOBER 17

There will be two No Kings Events in Antrim County on October 17.

The Antrim Dems are sponsoring a rally in Elk Rapids from 10:30-11:30 am. We will meet at the Park ‘n Ride across from the EZ Mart/Mobil station on US 31. Bring your signs and bring your spirit. We will let the community know that in the end, democracy will rule - NO KINGS HERE! The recall petition will be available to sign too!

MAKE NOTE: There will also be another Elk Rapidsrally on Sunday November1st, from 1-2 pm.!

Antrim Action is taking the lead in Bellaire. This event takes place from 10 am to noon in Richardi Park. There will be singing, speakers, cider and donuts, and even a recall petition to sign!

For those in Traverse County, the rally is at the Grand Traverse Civic Center from 11 am to 4 pm. This event includes voter registration, election protection, live music, guest speakers, on-stage games and contests, judged spooky election-themed Wagon Float Parade, face painting, and a kids activity tent.

Early Voting

In Michigan, we no longer really have Election Day; we have an election period.

With so much going on, we can’t forget that early voting will occur from Saturday, October 24 until Sunday, November 1. You are encouraged to vote during early voting in-person at your local Township Hall. Echo Township will vote at the Kearney Township Hall (820 Aero Park Drive). If you received an absentee ballot, do your research and then take your ballot in and put it through the tabulator. To confirm your early voting location and the hours it will be open each of the 9 days of early voting, click here: https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Voter/Index#early-voting-search-section

We listed all of the candidates for local office (with our recommendations) and all of the proposals in our last newsletter. If you wish to take another look, go to: https://www.antrimdems.com/p/gather-and-vote. Remember to vote the WHOLE ballot including non-partisan races and ballot proposals.

For information on how absentee ballots work in Michigan, click the Votebeat logo below to read an interesting article by Hayley Harding at votebeat.org.

Annual Antrim Dems Fundraiser

If you attended the Annual Antrim Dems fundraiser at Pine Hill Nursery, you know we had almost a full house. Barb Byrum, County Clerk for Ingham County, was our guest speaker. You may remember Barb as a candidate in the Democratic Primary for Secretary of State.

If you were unable to attend, it is not too late to make a donation. Donations help us support our great ads which help our candidates. If we get enough money, we can start making donations to the campaigns of our local candidates.

DONATE HERE -->

The Eyes Are On Us

The nonpartisan Michigan Election Observation Project, an initiative of The Carter Center, has chosen Antrim County as one of its locations to observe the 2026 election process.

The Carter Center is a nonpartisan humanitarian organization focused on strengthening the integrity of democracy and combating disease. One of the core pillars of the Center’s democracy work is nonpartisan and independent election observation, which monitors all aspects of the electoral process, from voter registration to the certification of results, for a given election, in this case, the midterm election on November 3. This differs from the work of party poll watchers, whose role is to represent the interests of a particular party or candidate. Independent observers instead monitor and analyze the integrity of the entire electoral process rather than acting in the interest of any particular candidate or stakeholder. The mission is fundamentally nonpartisan, comprised of individuals of all political persuasions united around support for a secure, free, and fair electoral process. All details of the process, including areas done well and any irregularities, are documented and analyzed at a systemic level, then released in the form of statements, reports, and recommendations to stakeholders ranging from county clerks to political parties to the Office of the Secretary of State. This follows international standards and best practices for election observation, which The Carter Center has applied around the world for over 30 years and in the United States since 2020, in response to years of growing distrust in the electoral system from all sides.

Coordination of the Northern Michigan region for the project will be the responsibility of Max Bone who spent summers in the Charlevoix area while growing up. He is arranging for volunteers to observe various sites in Antrim County during the election. Max can be reached at max@boneasset.com or +1 (248) 229-1247. He is not in need of volunteers. However, if you have concerns about election integrity in Antrim County, feel free to contact him.

Click the Michigan Dems logo below for a huge collection of voting resources
so you can be sure your vote will be counted!

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL CALENDAR OF REGULAR EVENTS ON OUR WEBSITE

IMPORTANT NOTE - PINTS AND POLITICS, AT THE SHORT’S PULL BARN IN ELK RAPIDS, WILL START AT 3:30 ON OCTOBER 20 INSTEAD OF THE USUAL 4:30. THIS IS DUE TO THE VISIT OF CURTIS HERTEL, CHAIR OF THE MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY. COME OUT AND JOIN US!

JOIN OR RENEW YOUR 2026 MEMBERSHIP

CLICK RIGHT HERE

Download our membership form to mail in or click a link below

Click to Download Form

Voting in Antrim County Membership

Join Here

Part Time Resident (non-voting)

Join Here

“Never forget this: The forces undermining our democracy, rigging our economy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win.”

-Robert Reich