Michigan Green Party Says It Hasn’t Heard from Congressional Nominee Since April Convention

The Green Party of Michigan has been unable to make contact with its candidate for the 7th Congressional District since party leaders originally nominated him for the position earlier this year, according to a local report the day before the midterm elections.

In an election round-up by Michigan’s WKAR News on Monday, November 2, the publication said the party has been unable to get in touch with Shane Dedrick, its nominee in the 7th District, since the party’s virtual convention in April.

WKAR writes that Dedrick was selected during the meeting, which took place over Zoom, in less than an hour. Michigan Green Party officials also say that he kept his camera off during the process and that no one knew him going into the event.

“He seems to have gamed us,” Doug Marsh, the Michigan party’s communications manager and U.S. Senate nominee, told the publication. “Or, I mean, we don’t really have a clear explanation for why he did what he did.”

Dedrick’s elusive nature is not entirely new, having first come up in August when the Bulwark investigated his campaign for connections to the Make America Great Again movement associated with Republican President Donald Trump. Later that month, leaders of the Green Party of Michigan told WNLS, another state publication, that they had gone months at that point without hearing from the candidate.

The publication reached out to Dedrick multiple times with no luck, including an attempt in person, and was unable to find evidence of his campaign being active. It did, however, find FEC filings showing that he made past donations to donation platform WinRed and the 2024 presidential campaign of Perry Johnson, who withdrew before the first Republican state primary election.

Dedrick is appearing on Tuesday’s ballot alongside three other candidates, including incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, Democratic nominee William Lawrence, and Working Class Party candidate Felix Thibodeau.