An e-mail to MSU faculty and staff members from state Rep. Paul DeWeese sent some community members hitting their reply buttons to complain.
Last month, the Williamston Republican said he sent the message to MSU employees to thank them for the work they do to improve the quality of everyday life. But after receiving 25 negative responses from the Sept. 17 e-mail, DeWeese says he will refrain from sending future e-mails. He said he received 12 positive replies.
DeWeese is running against state Rep. Virg Bernero, D-Lansing, for the 23rd District state Senate seat, which represents MSU, in the Nov. 5 election.
DeWeese sent another e-mail in September to about 40,000 state employees to thank them for the work they did for Michigan. It drew fire by Democrats who said the e-mail was a political tactic, and he used state property to send the messages.
DeWeese maintains both e-mails were sent to show support for the employees.
The MSU addresses were compiled individually and DeWeese enlisted Microsoft bCentral, an Internet service that assists with e-mail marketing lists, to send the e-mails.
“I do think there’s a very strong disconnect between our professors and our policy-makers and legislators,” DeWeese said. “We, as legislators, have a platform other people don’t. My view is that too much of our language is either defending our own party or bashing another person’s party. People get sick of it, and it degrades the public square.”
Although both e-mails were written and sent with good intentions, DeWeese said he can see why some people may be irritated by the messages.
“It’s a wonderful tool, but the problem is it can be invasive, too,” he said.
Chris Wolf, a computer service manager at MSU, was one such staff member who wrote back and complained to DeWeese.
“I do not support DeWeese and have never contacted him or his staff in any way that would prompt an e-mail,” he said. Although he’s written a reply to DeWeese, he said he doesn’t expect an answer.
But Tom Davis, interim director of the Computer Center, said while DeWeese’s e-mail might bother some employees, it remains legal.
“Some of the complaints you’re receiving are from people who aren’t necessarily supporting this particular candidate,” he said, adding that he didn’t receive the e-mail.
Davis said all candidates are using the Internet at some degree. “We’ve all gotten phone calls at home, so I think it’s definitely something that’s here to stay.”
There are about 8,000 MSU employees in the district. The charges of unethical campaigning is something that caught DeWeese off guard. He said he still feels bad because of the charges.
“To have your name accused with the intention of dragging it through the mud, that’s hard. And I have to roll with that if I’m going to continue to run,” he said. DeWeese said he’d like to see politicians and the public get together to discuss the rules of Internet campaigning to reach a common ground.
Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, said the Internet is the new frontier of American politics.
“As long as it wasn’t made an item of controversy, it was a plus and a smart thing for DeWeese to do,” he said. “Now that it’s been made an item of controversy, it’s been raising a lot of questions about whether DeWeese was using state property.”
Chad Previch can be reached at previchc@msu.edu.
