Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


***Article has been updated with Nikitin response.


The state has dismissed a complaint alleging Campaign Finance Act violations against a member of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners.

The Michigan Department of State, Bureau of Elections determined that Republican Commissioner Wes Nakagiri did not violate the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.

The complaint was filed by Ella Nikitin of Hartland Township, who ran as a Democrat against Nakagiri for the District 4 seat last November.

A letter to Nakagiri from James Biehl, the Regulatory Attorney for the Bureau of Elections, is attached and states:

“The complaint alleged that you failed to report in-kind contributions for various postcards and banners in violation of MCL 169.226(1). Additionally, the complaint alleged failure to include a proper identification statement on campaign materials, accepting an improper contribution from an independent expenditure committee, and accepting an excess contribution.

There was no evidence provided that supported these allegations, therefore the Department did not include these allegations in the notice dated September 16, 2024.

You responded to the complaint. In your response, you claimed there was no in-kind contribution that needed to be reported because there was no express advocacy on any of the materials encouraging the re-election of Wes Nakagiri. Ella Nikitin did not provide a rebuttal to your response”.

The letter went on to state the Department found insufficient evidence was presented to support a finding of a potential violation of the MCFA.

The Department dismissed the complaint and said it will take no further enforcement action.

The initial letter to Nakagiri dated September 16th, 2024 from the Department of State is also attached.

In a release, Nakagiri commented he views his opponent’s campaign finance complaint as an example of wasteful Democrat lawfare. Nakagiri said “Because of Nikitin’s unsubstantiated allegations of wrongdoing, taxpayer-funded resources were needlessly wasted.”

Nikitin responded to say "I am disappointed that the state did not agree with my opinion regarding Nakagiri's use of his super PAC. I would however argue that Nakagiri getting the county involved in an expensive lawsuit with the Livingston County courts, which the county had to settle, was the real waste of taxpayer-funded resources".