State Dem Party Committee member owes more than $13K in fines, fees

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A Michigan Democratic Party Committee Member owes the Ingham County Clerk $13,575 in overdue campaign finance fees and fines.

Robin Smith, a former Lansing Community College Board of Trustee member, has owed the fines and fees since at least 2014, 6 News first reported in October. At the time, she assured 6 News she would address the debt when she returned from a trip to Dubai.

But Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum says her office did not hear from Smith until the beginning of May when 6 News began asking county and state party leaders about the debt and her continued service in leadership positions at both the Ingham County Democratic Party and the Michigan Democratic Party. At that point, Smith owed $13,775 in overdue fines and fees.

Tuesday, Byrum told 6 News Smith made contact with her officer in early May seeking to have a reduction in her fees. That request was denied, and Byrum offered Smith a payment plan of $230 a month to pay off the debt within five years.

Byrum says Smith paid her office $100 on May 31 and nothing else until late Tuesday afternoon when Smith showed up at the Clerk’s office and paid another $100 on her debt. Byrum says Smith was aware of the agreement to pay $230 per month to pay off the debt in its entirety.

That came just hours after 6 News sent an email inquiry to Smith about the debt. Smith did not respond to the email inquiry.

Smith serves on both the State Party’s Executive Committee as well as First Vice Chair of the county party. It is unclear how long she has held these posts. Smith said neither the state nor county parties review or consider campaign finance debts when selecting leadership. She declined to opine whether either should.

Smith was first elected to the Lansing Community College Board of Trustees in 2007. She was re-elected in 2012 and did not seek re-election in 2018. Her last quarterly report, filed in July 2014, showed she had no money on hand.

Ingham County Democratic Party Chair Brian P. Jackson says Smith’s fines and fees are not a concern at this point for his organization.

“It is nothing that our membership has requested to be reviewed,” he wrote in an email on May 1. “No action is expected. We are a democratic organization and no one in our membership has brought this up as a concern that requires action in removal from office that would require a vote to be removed.”

Jackson says the county organization uses campaign fines and fees as teachable moments.

“We certainly used examples of candidates’  fines as lessons to our candidates to make sure they are very diligent to the election filing deadlines and requirements,” he wrote on May 1. “We are also preparing training sessions to teach potential campaign treasurers who can assist our candidates stay on top of these filing requirements. Ingham County Democrats are looking at other ways that we can support our candidates because it is not an easy thing to do is to put yourself out to the public to offer to serve the community.”

Multiple phone calls and emails to the media team for the Michigan Democratic Party went without response for the last month.

However, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer highlighted Smith in a video Monday on an X post.

6 News reached out to Whitmer’s political team which was responsible for posting the video on X. There’s been no response from the team.

Byrum, meanwhile, is still waiting for Smith to settle her debt with her office.

“Being an elected official comes with many responsibilities and obligations,” she wrote by text Tuesday. “I look forward to Robin Smith fulfilling those obligations.”

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