Rep. Neil Friske said he's spent the last two years in Lansing voting exactly the way he promised voters he would.
The freshman state representative has voted 'Nay' on 77 of the last 100 bills that have come across his desk - in some cases he was one of only a handful of lawmakers to do so.
"If you go and read my vote explanations, it's very clear why I voted the way I did," Friske said in an interview with IPR News. "I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. That, and God, are my guides and that's how I function here in Lansing. I am not compromising to get a little win."
Friske, who previously ran Friske Orchards, is running for reelection in Michigan's 107th House District. It encompasses Charlevoix and Emmet Counties and parts of the Eastern Upper Peninsula, including Sault Ste. Marie.
But first, he faces GOP organizer and small business owner Parker Fairbairn in the Aug. 6 primary election.
Friske said being the minority party in Lansing has posed challenges. He's also a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a handful of hardline conservatives who tend to vote strictly on party lines.
None of the bills Friske sponsored, he says, have made it out of committee.
That's brought scorn from critics, including his Republican colleagues like State Senator John DaMoose and U.S. Representative Jack Bergman.
Bergman is also campaigning for his own reelection this November.
"We believe the people of the district deserve better representation in Lansing," Bergman said. "When you get yourself kicked off your committees, you know you're not representing your people."
Both Bergman and DaMoose made the rare move to endorse the challenger rather than the incumbent. Political action committees under the Michigan Farm Bureau and Michigan Small Business Association have also given nods to Fairbairn.
But Friske said these endorsements don't matter to voters as much as they once did.
"Quite often, organizations are tunnel visioned," he said. "They're focused on their cause only, and that's really all they care about. And unfortunately, I think that does people a great disservice."
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Fairbairn says it signals a desire for change in the party.
Fairbairn also ran against Friske in the 2022 Republican Primary on a split ticket with two other candidates. He lost to Friske by about 1,000 votes.
Fairbairn says voters are "tired of the drama".
Friske was arrested in the early hours of June 20 near a home he owns in Lansing. Over a month later, no charges have officially been filed against the lawmaker and police are still investigating "for a felon-level offense" after reports of shots fired.
Days after Friske was released from police custody, he appeared at a candidate forum in Petoskey. In front of a crowd of voters, he said he was "framed."
"There were a bunch of false allegations that were made," Friske said. "I know that I'm 100% innocent. I did nothing criminally wrong that night."
According to latest reports from the Detroit News, law enforcement officers have requested several search warrants to collect electronic media and DNA evidence that will have to be "forensically analyzed by an expert."
"Lansing has further corrupted yet another politician from northern Michigan, which is a real disappointment for our whole district," Fairbairn said in an interview with IPR News.
He's referencing the former House Speaker from Levering and his wife, who allegedly used political and taxpayer money to buy luxury products, according to Attorney General Dana Nessel. They face 15 combined corruption charges in Lansing, and both have pleaded not guilty.
Both candidates seem to agree on how to address the main issues facing northern Michigan residents including access to affordable housing, childcare, protection of natural resources and growing rural communities.
They said deregulation will make the region more desirable for developers and business owners. While good conservation is important, neither candidate seemed to embrace clean energy solutions and expressed their excitement for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project.
Whoever wins the Aug. 6 Primary will go on to face Democrat Jodi Decker in November.
Listen to interviews with both candidates via the audio player above.
