Former head of Michigan Dems files ethics complaint against Macomb Prosecutor Peter Lucido

The former head of the Michigan Democratic Party is pursuing an ethics complaint against the Macomb County Prosecutor for allegedly using county property to promote a political candidate in a 2021 local election.

Mark Brewer, the former party chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, has filed a complaint against Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido. He alleges Lucido used county property to create photos of former Sterling Heights City Council candidate Paul Manni during his campaign, according to a copy of the complaint that Brewer shared with media outlets. Manni ended up losing in the general election.

“I think this is the kind of misconduct by Pete Lucido that the voters need to be aware of before they decide whether they want to reelect him this year,” Brewer, an attorney, told The News.

Lucido, a Republican, is up for reelection this year. He couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

In October, Manni pleaded guilty to three counts of making a false statement in an application for an absentee ballot in 2021, which is a misdemeanor. A circuit court judge later ordered him to pay $1,500 in fines, $500 per count.

Brewer's complaint was notarized on Feb. 1, and he said he submitted it by mail within a day or two of the notarization. Dorie Vazquez-Nolan, chair of the Macomb County Ethics Board, confirmed that the board received Brewer’s complaint.

The complaint includes a photocopy of a campaign mailer that it appears was sent to voters ahead of the Aug. 3, 2021 Sterling Heights City Council primary election. In one image on the mailer, Lucido and Manni are talking to each other in front of a sign that says Lucido’s name and title. Brewer said that “it’s clearly the prosecutor’s office.”  

Another image on the mailer shows Manni and Lucido talking in an office, which Brewer thinks is Lucido’s office.  

“If Mr. Lucido wants to come back and say that wasn’t taken in my office, he’s free to do that,” he said, “but it appears to be in his office, which would be a violation of the ordinance as well.”

Brewer’s complaint alleges that Lucido used and allowed Manni to use county property to “create photographs for political campaign purposes” in violation of Section 5.e.(2)(b) and (c) of Macomb County’s Ethics Ordinance. The ordinance says that a public servant shall not use or allow others to use “county land, buildings, facilities, or other property” in pursuit of campaign activities.

It also says that a public servant shall not pursue political campaign activities “on or using County property during ordinary County work hours” or using “County facilities, property, business machines” or other resources.

Brewer is a partner at law firm Goodman Acker, P.C. He was elected chair of the Michigan Democratic Party in 1995 and served as chair or executive chair until 2013, according to his staff biography. When asked about how some may view his complaint in a partisan way, Brewer said “this is just a question of enforcing the law.”

“I mean I would file a complaint like this if a Democrat or a nonpartisan broke the law,” he said. “The ordinance applies to everybody, no matter what your political party.”

Vazquez-Nolan said the Macomb County Ethics Board will do a probable cause review of the complaint at its next meeting, which is at 8:30 a.m. March 19. She said the probable cause determination is to be made on the basis of the complaint and any supporting documentation submitted. She said that if the board decides that there is probable cause, they will then conduct an investigation into the complaint.