Michigan Democrat candidate wins election amid alleged political intimidation

(FOX 2) - A downriver state house candidate declared victory last night following a campaign that turned so vicious, she says her personal phone number, the landline belonging to her parents, was doxxed and posted on tons of campaign messaging against her. 

Democrat candidate phone number doxxed

Big picture view:

Rep.-elect Churches is going back to the state House seat she held two years ago. She’s glad to have this ordeal behind her. 

Churches says she battled opposition campaign mailers and robotic text messages like these that showed her personal cell phone number, with some even posting her parent’s contact information. The messaging urged voters to oppose her candidacy and legislative agenda. 

Some of it was traced back to the Michigan Republican Party. 

Churches said it even leads to unsettling voicemails like this. 

The state GOP disputed the allegations with FOX 2 in October, telling us Churches had shared her own phone number in multiple formats, including handwritten notes on campaign literature, official candidacy filing documents, and posted publicly on the Internet. 

But she says a clear line was crossed. 

"When you are a public figure, unfortunately, there are things like death threats and other things that occur, and sometimes it’s unclear whether someone is just upset and sharing a concern or if they have other intentions and being able to differentiate," said Churches. "I don’t think people should be put through that when they are running for office because that already happens, already in real life, but to encourage more of that in order to win an election I think is inappropriate."

Dig deeper:

She was far from the only state Democrat to go through this. 

The Michigan House Democratic Fund says at least four other democratic candidates had the same thing happen to them. 

FOX 2 checked, and they all won their races last night as well.

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