Representing the people of Michigan’s Ninth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives is a high honor. It is a responsibility that demands maturity, judgment, and candor from those who seek the trust of the voters. Those who seek to serve must be prepared to withstand the scrutiny of the voters, the media, and the opposition, since the backgrounds and experience of those seeking public office are important campaign issues.
Unsettling issues have been raised in the race for Congress in Michigan’s Ninth District about the conduct and actions of candidate Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski. While all of us respect and admire all those who have served in our nation’s military, it is legitimate to examine the totality of the record. There is nothing "negative, deceptive, or baseless" about any of the facts brought to light about Mr. Raczkowski’s background. These facts have not been exaggerated and are easily searchable in the public record. If we would not have brought up these facts in the primary, Gary Peters would have certainly used them against him in the general election. Raczkowski may not like that these facts have arisen, but that does not make them less relevant to his candidacy.
First, it must be said that no one is perfect, and all of us have our shortcomings. There are pros and cons to every candidate, but voters must be presented with carefully-documented facts and the complete truth and be allowed to make informed decisions based on information verifiable in the public record (and all of the accusations against Mr. Raczkowski are verifiable in the public record and easily searchable online). The evidence presented here, and Mr. Raczkowski’s counter-claims, should be examined carefully now, as it is certain that this information will be topical as long as Mr. Raczkowski is a candidate for any public office.
Mr. Raczkowski is currently a defendant in a federal civil lawsuit in U.S. Federal District Court in South Dakota. Mr. Raczkowski casually dismisses his involvement in this lawsuit, calling it "frivolous." Unfortunately, most "frivolous" lawsuits don’t stand in federal court for two years without being dismissed. And while everyone deserves their day in court, here is what is being alleged in this case according to legal documents:
Unquestionably, many people are sued and not every case has merit. However, very few cases of this magnitude involve a candidate for Congress. Voters are being asked to place their trust in Mr. Raczkowski as our Republican nominee to take on incumbent US Rep. Gary Peters, but isn’t likely that Mr. Peters and the Democrats will demand answers to these questions too? Won’t voters want to know more about this matter? Will Raczkowski be allowed to simply push these questions aside during a general election or will this lawsuit become the issue in the fall? With all of the big issues facing our nation, wouldn’t be a shame to spend the general election campaign discussing Rocky’s lawsuit?
For a copy of the actual pleadings in this case so that you might have this information in its entirety and in context, please click here.
Raczkowski has been questioned by state and federal authorities about numerous campaign finance irregularities over the years throughout many campaigns, including inappropriate campaign spending, failure to file legally required disclosure of donor information and failure to file his own Personal Financial Disclosure information as required by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
Even in his rebuttal to one portion of these facts, Mr. Raczkowski acknowledges he did not comply with the specifics of the law. But again he dismisses it, because he didn’t like the fact that his disregard for the law was brought to light by the Welday campaign. But, isn’t it true that regardless of who brings it up, if it’s wrong….it’s wrong?
Mr. Raczkowski goes on to say that since he ran a "shoestring" campaign against Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) in 2002, his sloppy, inaccurate and incomplete campaign finance reports should be forgiven. All one has to do is to take a look at these reports to see a disaster that is sure to be brought up time and again by Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer and his henchmen. Raczkowski has opened and maintained four different federal campaign committees and three different Michigan political committees. Contrary to his supporters’ claims, questions raised by the Federal Elections Commission have never been resolved. Lack of disclosure of his contributors. Failure to file reports. Thousands in fines to the federal government for questionable activity.
To review just one of the summary pages for the Rocky for Senate committee for yourself, please click here.
Rocky’s rebuttal also claims once again that he ran this campaign on a "shoestring." But if that is the case, why did fail to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars he had raised from sincere contributors during the actual campaign against Senator Levin and leave this money in his account that was then used to pay for extensive political direct mail fundraising and personal expenses? Again, questions in need of an answer.
Additionally, a tremendous amount of this money landed directly in Mr. Raczkowski’s own pocket. Reports show that Rocky paid $120,980.67 to his own company – Mainline Communications – from which he profited personally. According to reports from the State of Michigan and the Federal Elections Commission, the amounts that ended up in going to Mainline Communications include:
Finally, it should be noted that every candidate for Congress must file a report with the Clerk of the House known as the Personal Financial Disclosure form. This requirement was mandated in the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. As of July 8, 2010, Mr. Raczkowski had failed to file this report. Once again, serious questions are raised by this neglect regarding the transparency and forthrightness of Mr. Raczkowski.
To suggest this so-called "attack" is a diversion from the key issues in the campaign is laughable. What issue is greater than the honesty and integrity of our elected officials?
We hope you will decide whether this is something worth considering as you make your decision about who will be best able to challenge Gary Peters this fall.
Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski introduced House Bill 5934 on April 23, 2002 which, according to the House Legislative Analysis Section, "would eliminate the current restriction on a plaintiff’s ability to recover for loss of an opportunity to survive or to achieve a better result, which requires that the opportunity be greater than 50 percent. Instead, the bill would specify that a plaintiff, including a living plaintiff, could recover for (any) loss of an opportunity to survive or loss of an opportunity to achieve a better result. The plaintiff could recover economic and noneconomic damages in proportion to the loss of opportunity to survive or to achieve a better result that was proximately caused in whole or in part by the alleged malpractice."
Essentially, this bill would make it easier to sue for medical malpractice. In rebutting the claim that this legislation would expand lawsuits and increase the ability of trial lawyers to sue for medical malpractice, Mr. Raczkowski claims that all of the Lansing special interests were in support. He suggests he showed "real leadership." But for whom? Clearly those left to pay the tab were left out in the cold.
Interestingly enough, according to Michigan Secretary of State reports, Mr. Raczkowski received $8,400 from the Trial Lawyers PAC to his Citizens for Raczkowski fund and his Raczkowski Leadership Fund not long before introducing this legislation. The bill died somewhere in committee before ever being voted upon.
For complete reading of the legislative analysis on the Raczkowski-Trial Lawyer bill, please click here.
We report…you decide.
According to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, state Representative Andrew Raczkowski missed 160 roll call votes during 2002. This was the same year that Mr. Raczkowski launched a bid for the U.S. Senate where he was defeated by Senator Carl Levin by close to a 2-to-1 margin.
Among the many votes Raczkowski missed included:
We understand that these are troubling facts for Mr. Raczkowski. But they are even more troubling for voters heading to the polls.
Here are some important questions to ponder:
Unsettling issues have been raised in the race for Congress in Michigan’s Ninth District about the conduct and actions of candidate Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski. While all of us respect and admire all those who have served in our nation’s military, it is legitimate to examine the totality of the record. There is nothing "negative, deceptive, or baseless" about any of the facts brought to light about Mr. Raczkowski’s background. These facts have not been exaggerated and are easily searchable in the public record. If we would not have brought up these facts in the primary, Gary Peters would have certainly used them against him in the general election. Raczkowski may not like that these facts have arisen, but that does not make them less relevant to his candidacy.
First, it must be said that no one is perfect, and all of us have our shortcomings. There are pros and cons to every candidate, but voters must be presented with carefully-documented facts and the complete truth and be allowed to make informed decisions based on information verifiable in the public record (and all of the accusations against Mr. Raczkowski are verifiable in the public record and easily searchable online). The evidence presented here, and Mr. Raczkowski’s counter-claims, should be examined carefully now, as it is certain that this information will be topical as long as Mr. Raczkowski is a candidate for any public office.
Mr. Raczkowski is currently a defendant in a federal civil lawsuit in U.S. Federal District Court in South Dakota. Mr. Raczkowski casually dismisses his involvement in this lawsuit, calling it "frivolous." Unfortunately, most "frivolous" lawsuits don’t stand in federal court for two years without being dismissed. And while everyone deserves their day in court, here is what is being alleged in this case according to legal documents:
- Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski is a defendant in a federal lawsuit in South Dakota Federal District Court (Rozone Productions, LLC et. al v. Raczkowski, et. al, US Fed. Dist. Ct. of SD, Chief Judge Karen E. Schreier, case no: 5:2009cv05015) brought by Rozone Productions of Austin, Texas against Raczkowski, his company, Star Tickets Plus (Raczkowski has recently quit his position with this company), and others, alleging that Raczkowski lied about the reporting of ticket sales, stealing millions from Rozone.
- Rozone and Rocky partnered to bring artists Kenny Chesney, KISS, John Fogerty and Larry the Cable Guy to the Glencoe Amphitheater during the 2008 Sturgis motorcycle rally.
- It is alleged that co-defendant Brian Knaff of Talent Buyers Network recommended Star Tickets be brought in to market the concert tickets and that he conspired with Rocky to defraud the promoter Rozone.
- Rozone had a five-year contract to promote and produce concerts at the amphitheater. The estimated capacity at Glencoe is 100,000.
- KISS peformed on August 4, 2008.
- Chesney performed on August 6, 2008
- Larry the Cable Guy and John Fogerty were scheduled to perform on August 5, 2008, but both performances were canceled. Larry the Cable Guy canceled earlier on that day. Fogerty’s concert began, but was called off due to a summer storm.
- Court documents filed by the plaintiff claim attendance at the concerts were enormous. Experts retained by the plaintiff claim 42,000 people at the Chesney concert alone.
- Documents go on to allege that Rocky and his company, Star Tickets Plus "fraudulently reported to Rozone that ticket sales for all three concerts combined (KISS, Fogerty and Chesney) was roughly 25,000."
- Rozone claims best way to determine actual number of attendees is to take immediate possession of the boxes containing ticket-stubs. Rozone goes on to claim that Raczkowski "…made it a point to take immediate possession of the ticket boxes himself. In this regard, Raczkowski had to destroy (and did destroy) ticket stubs from the ticket boxes so that the number of ticket sales reported by Raczkowski and Star Tickets to Rozone would jibe with the number of ticket-stubs in the ticket boxes."
- Plaintiff goes on to say that he began an analysis of ticket stubs and found that Raczkowski ended up destroying more ticket-stubs than the number of tickets reported to Rozone by Rocky.
- Court documents also suggest that "…Raczkowski made incriminating statements about his involvement in this fraud to persons at the airport in South Dakota and on three other occasions."
- Plaintiffs are claiming Rocky was the central figure in "theft, fraud and other wrongful conduct" costing Rozone damages in the amount of at least $2,966,500.
- In a news report in the Rapid City Journal (April 8, 2010), Raczkowski vehemently denies the charges. He says "…this is a frivolous lawsuit with fabricated facts."
- Rocky says Rozone borrowed thousands to promote the concerts and failed to do so adequately.
- Rocky goes on to say Rozone lost money and is "now looking for a scapegoat. We did nothing wrong and everything according to the contract." He said he will fight the lawsuit vigorously.
- The case is currently pending in South Dakota Federal District Court. It was originally filed in US Federal District Court in Austin, Texas, but was transferred – not dismissed, as is now claimed by Mr. Raczkowski – to a neutral site where the action alleged occurred (South Dakota).
Unquestionably, many people are sued and not every case has merit. However, very few cases of this magnitude involve a candidate for Congress. Voters are being asked to place their trust in Mr. Raczkowski as our Republican nominee to take on incumbent US Rep. Gary Peters, but isn’t likely that Mr. Peters and the Democrats will demand answers to these questions too? Won’t voters want to know more about this matter? Will Raczkowski be allowed to simply push these questions aside during a general election or will this lawsuit become the issue in the fall? With all of the big issues facing our nation, wouldn’t be a shame to spend the general election campaign discussing Rocky’s lawsuit?
For a copy of the actual pleadings in this case so that you might have this information in its entirety and in context, please click here.
Raczkowski has been questioned by state and federal authorities about numerous campaign finance irregularities over the years throughout many campaigns, including inappropriate campaign spending, failure to file legally required disclosure of donor information and failure to file his own Personal Financial Disclosure information as required by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
Even in his rebuttal to one portion of these facts, Mr. Raczkowski acknowledges he did not comply with the specifics of the law. But again he dismisses it, because he didn’t like the fact that his disregard for the law was brought to light by the Welday campaign. But, isn’t it true that regardless of who brings it up, if it’s wrong….it’s wrong?
Mr. Raczkowski goes on to say that since he ran a "shoestring" campaign against Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) in 2002, his sloppy, inaccurate and incomplete campaign finance reports should be forgiven. All one has to do is to take a look at these reports to see a disaster that is sure to be brought up time and again by Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer and his henchmen. Raczkowski has opened and maintained four different federal campaign committees and three different Michigan political committees. Contrary to his supporters’ claims, questions raised by the Federal Elections Commission have never been resolved. Lack of disclosure of his contributors. Failure to file reports. Thousands in fines to the federal government for questionable activity.
To review just one of the summary pages for the Rocky for Senate committee for yourself, please click here.
Rocky’s rebuttal also claims once again that he ran this campaign on a "shoestring." But if that is the case, why did fail to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars he had raised from sincere contributors during the actual campaign against Senator Levin and leave this money in his account that was then used to pay for extensive political direct mail fundraising and personal expenses? Again, questions in need of an answer.
Additionally, a tremendous amount of this money landed directly in Mr. Raczkowski’s own pocket. Reports show that Rocky paid $120,980.67 to his own company – Mainline Communications – from which he profited personally. According to reports from the State of Michigan and the Federal Elections Commission, the amounts that ended up in going to Mainline Communications include:
| Citizens for Raczkowski | $41,090.97 |
| Rocky for Senate | $68,113.66 |
| Raczkowski Leadership Fund | $7,564.04 |
| Michigan Future Fund | $4,212.00 |
| TOTAL | $120,980.67 |
Finally, it should be noted that every candidate for Congress must file a report with the Clerk of the House known as the Personal Financial Disclosure form. This requirement was mandated in the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. As of July 8, 2010, Mr. Raczkowski had failed to file this report. Once again, serious questions are raised by this neglect regarding the transparency and forthrightness of Mr. Raczkowski.
To suggest this so-called "attack" is a diversion from the key issues in the campaign is laughable. What issue is greater than the honesty and integrity of our elected officials?
We hope you will decide whether this is something worth considering as you make your decision about who will be best able to challenge Gary Peters this fall.
Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski introduced House Bill 5934 on April 23, 2002 which, according to the House Legislative Analysis Section, "would eliminate the current restriction on a plaintiff’s ability to recover for loss of an opportunity to survive or to achieve a better result, which requires that the opportunity be greater than 50 percent. Instead, the bill would specify that a plaintiff, including a living plaintiff, could recover for (any) loss of an opportunity to survive or loss of an opportunity to achieve a better result. The plaintiff could recover economic and noneconomic damages in proportion to the loss of opportunity to survive or to achieve a better result that was proximately caused in whole or in part by the alleged malpractice."
Essentially, this bill would make it easier to sue for medical malpractice. In rebutting the claim that this legislation would expand lawsuits and increase the ability of trial lawyers to sue for medical malpractice, Mr. Raczkowski claims that all of the Lansing special interests were in support. He suggests he showed "real leadership." But for whom? Clearly those left to pay the tab were left out in the cold.
Interestingly enough, according to Michigan Secretary of State reports, Mr. Raczkowski received $8,400 from the Trial Lawyers PAC to his Citizens for Raczkowski fund and his Raczkowski Leadership Fund not long before introducing this legislation. The bill died somewhere in committee before ever being voted upon.
For complete reading of the legislative analysis on the Raczkowski-Trial Lawyer bill, please click here.
We report…you decide.
According to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, state Representative Andrew Raczkowski missed 160 roll call votes during 2002. This was the same year that Mr. Raczkowski launched a bid for the U.S. Senate where he was defeated by Senator Carl Levin by close to a 2-to-1 margin.
Among the many votes Raczkowski missed included:
- HB 6028 – Allowing for the reasonable use of stun-guns by police officers. He missed vote on final passage taken 12/14/02
- HB 6096 – Increased penalties for use or sale of the drug "ecstasy." He missed vote on final passage. 12/13/02
We understand that these are troubling facts for Mr. Raczkowski. But they are even more troubling for voters heading to the polls.
Here are some important questions to ponder:
- Which candidate is likely to be dogged with questions about their record that will give the Democrats every opportunity to change the debate from what really matters in this election?
- Which Republican candidate is be best able to keep the general election debate on the Obama-Pelosi-Peters big government agenda and what we must do to restore a free-market, pro-growth economy?
- Who is the candidate best able to focus on the major issues of jobs and the economy?
- Who can best hold Gary Peters accountable for outrageously liberal voting record in Washington, DC?
- Who is the candidate who has a proven track record in business and the experience on Capitol Hill to make a difference for us immediately?
