Mellissa Carone in 2020 (File photo)
Mellissa Carone has been vowing to run for the Michigan House of Representatives almost since the smoke cleared from her fameball explosion following the 2020 election. Today, an incorrect affidavit could imperil her campaign for a seat in the 60th District.
Mellissa Carone in 2020 (File photo)
A section of the document requires candidates to swear that all of the their campaign finance reports have been filed and any late fees have been paid.
... Carone, who listed a Macomb Township address, signed that portion of the affidavit on Monday, according to a document obtained by The Detroit News. However, her campaign committee, named Mellissa Anne Carone, has two unpaid late filing fees — one of $50 and one of $75 — and received a notice that says it failed to file its end-of-year fundraising disclosure, according to state records.
It appears Carone's campaign mistakenly filed its end-of-year report as an October quarterly dissolution report. On Feb. 17, the Michigan Bureau of Elections informed Carone's campaign it couldn't dissolve because its ending balance wasn't $0. The bureau also noted that the campaign hadn't corrected two contributions it received over the donation limit in the fall.
Carone's campaign for a seat started after her testimony before the House Oversight Committee in December 2020, in which she falsely reported widespread errors in Detroit absentee vote-counting. She announced she would seek a seat in whatever district she landed in following a family move and redistricting, declaring first for the 46th in Oakland County, then the 60th in Macomb.
But she hasn't done well with the paperwork required of a candidate, which has led to teasing on Twitter from Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum:
Hey, Mellissa Carone, it’s your old friend, Barb Byrum, here. I thought it might be time for Campaign Finance 102, since I have noticed that you have failed to file your October 2021 Quarterly Campaign Finance Statement.
— BarbByrum (@BarbByrum) October 26, 2021
Carone told The News that the Macomb clerk told her she can correct the affidavit by the end of the week, and that "technically, it is right."
