Green Party Candidate in Michigan Swing Seat Raises Suspicions of Republican Involvement
Key Takeaways
- •The Bulwark's investigation found that Shane Dedrick, the Green Party nominee in a competitive Michigan House district, has ties to Republican figures including campaign donations to GOP presidential candidate Perry Johnson.
- •Dedrick was nominated at a Michigan Green Party convention held over Zoom, during which he kept his camera off and acknowledged he was not a registered Green Party member.
- •Dedrick's social media accounts show no connections to Green Party organizations but do link him to conservative activists, including Parker Maddock, son of former Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock.
- •The Michigan Green Party's communications chief acknowledged that Dedrick could potentially be a Republican plant and stated the party would probably disavow him if proven true.
- •The race involves GOP incumbent Rep. Tom Barrett defending his seat against Democrat William Lawrence, founder of the Sunrise Movement, in a battleground state where third-party vote shares can be decisive.
An investigation by The Bulwark has raised questions about a third-party candidate running in a competitive Michigan House district, finding evidence that he may be a Republican-aligned operative rather than a genuine Green Party supporter.
The seat is currently held by GOP Rep. Tom Barrett. Democrats have nominated William Lawrence, the progressive founder of the climate action group Sunrise Movement, to challenge him. Also on the ballot is Shane Dedrick, nominated by the Michigan Green Party. In battleground Michigan, where statewide races are frequently decided by margins smaller than the vote share captured by third-party candidates, even a small Green Party turnout can prove consequential.
"Dedrick has almost no digital footprint," wrote The Bulwark's Brendan Hartnett and Sam Stein. The limited information available, they noted, gives "no indication that he is the type of earthy environmentalist that typically runs under the Green Party banner... if anything, the online breadcrumbs suggest a real possibility that Dedrick may be a Republican plant."
According to the report, Dedrick made two campaign donations in 2023 to Perry Johnson, a Republican who ran a longshot presidential campaign. His Facebook page follows only three accounts, one of which belongs to Mick Bricker, who ran in the 2022 Republican primary for Michigan's 88th House District and whose profile picture shows him standing next to a smiling Donald Trump.
Dedrick's account on X follows only four accounts, none of which are affiliated with the Green Party. One of them is Parker Maddock, a young conservative activist in Michigan who follows Dedrick back. Maddock's mother, Meshawn Maddock, is a former Michigan GOP co-chair who was prosecuted but not convicted for serving as a "fake elector" in 2020 in an effort to overturn former President Joe Biden's victory in the state.
Dedrick secured the nomination at the Michigan Green Party's convention, held over Zoom. During the session, he kept his camera off and admitted he was not a member of the Green Party. He said he cared about the environment because of the "crazy, crazy weather over the last few years," citing "tornadoes and some of the worst winters."
One participant on the Zoom call voiced concern, saying: "I think this whole procedure is kind of rushed and hurried. It opens the door to having people come in and tell us all the things we want to hear, and then they turn out to be MAGA, and they trash our party. They trash us." Despite the concern, no serious objections were raised. After briefly reviewing his social media profile, the party nominated him.
Douglas Marsh, communications chief for the Michigan Green Party, strongly rejected the suggestion that the party serves as a spoiler. However, he acknowledged: "There's some possibility that [Dedrick's] a Republican plant," adding that if this were proven, the party would "probably" disavow him.
