A primary election mystery: Who attacked Aurelius Christian?

Aurelius Christian’s campaign for City Council seemed to be going well.

Out of 10 at-large candidates in the Aug. 5 primary election, Christian, 27, was one of three endorsed by the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee.

But then, a dark money-funded mailer brought attention to his role in the Ingham Community Health Centers’ budget crisis last year. It encouraged voters to call Christian “and tell him we don’t need him on Lansing City Council.”

Who attacked Aurelius Christian?

Someone who cared enough to spend $5,000 or more, sources estimated.

Michigan Vindicated paid for the mailer. As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, however, it is not required to disclose its donors, so it is impossible to know who funded the expenditure, Neil Thanedar, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said. The group also paid for mailers in Detroit attacking Detroit Councilmember Angela Calloway, who has no clear connection with Christian.

Michigan Vindicated was set up by Lansing-based attorney Reid Felsing, who was appointed an Eaton County District judge last year. Felsing said he was no longer involved with Michigan Vindicated and that his former law firm is its registered agent, not him. The firm, now Nova Law PLC, is on the board of Michigan Vindicated, according to Nova government relations consultant Jenna Le.

Given that Michigan Vindicated may just be a mechanism for attacking Christian, who would care enough to spend money to do so?

One source pointed a finger at Ingham County Commissioner Thomas Morgan.

That’s because Morgan publicly lambasted Christian’s campaign announcement in an April 16 Facebook post. He accused the ICHC board of “attempting a bizarre power play while ignoring a growing budget deficit,” adding that he was thankful most of the committee resigned and Christian was not reappointed.

But Morgan said last week he had not paid for the mailer — “Sheeeeeeit,” he texted, “my wife would kill me. Trying to save for a basement and a new car”  — and did not know who had — though he added if he did, he’d buy them a beer.

Todd Tennis, a fellow county commissioner and an ICHC board member, said he did not know about the mailer before City Pulse asked about it. He said he had been “frustrated” with Christian during Christian’s time on the board but that the mailer was only partially accurate. It misstated the Health Centers’ deficit.

“The budget deficit turned out not to be $4.5 million,” he said. “The finance folks had inadvertently not logged some revenue we got from the state, and it went into the wrong place.”

He said the deficit was still over a million and significant enough to cause layoffs, though.

Tennis said there is “a lot of blame to go around” for the budget deficit, some of which he aimed at paid leadership at the health centers for “not adequately informing the board of our financial situation.”

“If we’re not getting good information from them, then it’s hard for us to make proper decisions,” he said.

“I disagreed with Aurelius on some of the priorities that the board had while he was there, but I don’t think the mailer accurately characterizes his efforts.”

Another theory about who attacked Christian is that he is the victim of guilt by association — in this case, with Councilmember Jeffrey Brown.

Tennis also said that Christian, during his time on the board, seemed to be part of a “caucus” loyal to Brown, a former ICHC board member and one of four challengers to incumbent Mayor Andy Schor in next month’s primary election.

Brown has seen his share of controversies. Last year, he was the target of a dark-money effort himself.

That came after the enigmatic Councilmember switched sides unexpectedly to oppose Schor’s plan to convert the old Masonic Temple into the new City Hall. Multiple sources said he had previously promised developer Ron Boji, local union leaders and the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce he would back the plan.

Shortly thereafter, a full-page ad paid for by a dark money group calling him a “grifter” appeared in the City Pulse. The ad bears a resemblance to the mailer. Michigan Deserves Better, which funded the ad opposing Brown, was also set up by Felsing.

Could the mailer and the ad be paid for by the same person or group?

Tennis said Brown earned his seat on the ICHC board after a failed bid for the county Commission 10 years ago.

“He eventually used that as a springboard to run for office,” Tennis said, “and I think he spoke to folks in his circle and said, ‘Hey, this health center board is a good springboard to run for other things.’”

Tennis believes Christian to be one of those people.

The two remain connected. An elected Lansing official said they were frequently seen together at events. In November, they were co-speakers at the graduation ceremony for a Nigerian technical program, where Christian said Brown had “shared gifts” with him, including “mentorship.”

It is unclear why the two spoke at this graduation. Neither Brown nor Christian responded to requests for comment, and Brown’s day job — if he has one — remains a mystery. The co-founder of DaHel Consultants & Techies, whose graduating class Brown and Christian spoke to, called Brown a “great man who can command thousands of dollars from high level individuals” in a LinkedIN post after the ceremony.

An ally on the Council could be a boon to Brown, who is giving up his at-large seat to run for mayor. For someone still licking one’s wounds after the Masonic Temple switch-up, keeping a Brown ally off the Council could justify the expense.

The Lansing Chamber PAC endorsed Christian, who was one of the Chamber’s “10 Over the Next Ten” award recipients in 2022, despite its conflict with Brown. Assuming he was targeted for his affiliation with Brown, Boji and union leaders are likely suspects.

But that’s a big assumption, since dark money leaves no trail. Nick Pigeon, Thanedar’s predecessor at the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, is also running for Council at-large. He said campaigns like this were on the rise in local races, and that “there is absolutely no way” to see behind the curtain.

“I think that’s something that people should know — they received that message, but who is spending that money?” he said. “We’re seeing negative mailers against local candidates, and there’s nothing that you can do.”