Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon says she will not accept endorsements or contributions to her campaign for reelection from police unions.
About 40 prosecutors around the county have signed a letter stating that they won’t accept the backing of police unions leading up to the November election. Siemon is the only Michigan prosecutor to sign the letter.
The Democrat says she has great respect for the police in Ingham County, but she thinks it’s important to show that her office is not “entangled” with law enforcement agencies. “People will be unhappy," Siemon says, adding that "it’s hard because it feels like I’m saying negative things about the police even though that is not my intent at all.”
Siemon says police unions have stood in the way of police reforms in New York and Minneapolis. So far, she hasn’t heard any reaction from Ingham County police unions.
In the 2016 election, Siemon says one police union endorsed both her and her Republican opponent.