Bolger: Party-switching scheme 'not a mistake'

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — A former Michigan lawmaker’s scheme to switch parties just before an election deadline was “not a mistake,” said Republican state House Speaker Jase Bolger, who was recently cleared for his role in the political drama.

Bolger commented Monday in Battle Creek to reporters for the Battle Creek Enquirer, the Kalamazoo Gazette and WMUK-FM during taping for a show on the radio station that’s scheduled to air Wednesday.

Ex-Rep. Roy Schmidt of Grand Rapids was accused of trying to pay a novice Democrat to run against him after he switched to the Republican Party. A yearlong probe into the scandal wrapped up Friday with no indictments.

“Roy Schmidt switching parties was not a mistake. I would do that again,” said Bolger, of Marshall.

According to Bolger, the mistake in this case was worrying too much about Schmidt’s opponent in the election.

“I’ve learned a lot from this process,” Bolger said. “I issued a public apology back originally in July. ... I’ve sought to live by that apology.”

Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, serving as a one-judge grand jury, said that an “exhaustive and diligent” probe lasting nearly a year uncovered no crime or wrongdoing and that charges were not warranted.

Schmidt’s switch to the GOP in May 2012, just before the deadline for the August primary election, came under scrutiny when it came to light that his Democratic opponent did not meet a residency requirement.