As former State Rep. Cindy Gamrat, R-Plainwell, was facing expulsion from the state House, retired Oregon Judge David Gernant decided it was time to throw his hat in the ring. He'd grown up in southwest Michigan and had returned after retiring from the Oregon bench in 2008. He settled in Plainwell.
"(Gamrat) doesn't have anything to do with me wanting to run, other than the fact that she imploded all of a sudden in the middle of her term," the Democrat told WWMT in September. "Because of all the attention, I thought it would be nice to give the voters a chance to elect someone with a different background."
Gernant is 72, gay and single. He was married and has two sons and four grandchildren, as well as a special needs great grandchild who is 5. In response to being asked why he returned to Michigan, Gernant said, "The best I can say is: an emotional attachment to where I came from."
Gamrat fell from grace in a spectacular scandal involving an affair with fellow right-wing Tea Party favorite and former State Rep. Todd Courser, R-Lapeer. Courser resigned moments before the state House was to vote on a motion to expel him from the body. Gamrat, a "family values" conservative, held on hoping she could survive an expulsion vote. She did not.
She threw her hat in the ring for a primary held in November, attempting to regain her seat. She lost to Republican Mary Whiteford, a self described "Christian" and "conservative." She will face Gernant on March 8 to finish Gamrat's term — which ends Dec. 31.
Whiteford did not respond to emails and phone calls asking for an interview with Between The Lines.
However, she does not support amending the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protections for the LGBT community.
"I do not support expanding a new protected class to Elliott-Larsen," she told the Allegan News in October 2015 just before the primary. "This opens up the workplace to greater trial lawyer activity and puts our businesses in jeopardy when over 90 percent of cases are settled out of court. That said, I do not support discrimination of any kind."
Gernant does support amending the law.
"This is a no brainer," he said. "When there is a national right to marry, it's backwards to say you don't have protections. It makes no sense."
The retired judge said that he did credit Gamrat — who was anti-gay — with standing on her own in the face of the GOP leadership. He pledged he too would vote based on evidence, not what leaders told him to do.
The affable man said serving in the state Legislature is something he has "wanted to do since I was in high school." He said his background as a judge provides him with an opportunity to weigh evidence to come to decisions.
"That's what I am trained to do," he said.
He was shocked to learn that Michigan is one of 34 states to have an HIV-specific criminal law on the books; he said he would support its repeal.
That law makes it a four year felony for a person who knows s/he is infected with HIV to engage in sexual penetration "however slight" without first disclosing their infection. Prosecutors who have used this law have generally not been required to prove criminal intent, or even actual risk of transmission. In one case, highlighted by a University of Michigan researcher Trevor Hoppe, a woman was prosecuted and convicted for placing her labia on the nose of an undercover informant participating in a drug and prostitution investigation at an adult entertainment club the woman worked at.
"This law was passed in 1987 — almost 30 years ago — when there was maximum fear and maximum ignorance about HIV and AIDS," he said. "If it ever served a purpose, it doesn't anymore. Even without it, someone could still be charged criminally for intentionally trying to infect someone with HIV. That's what matters."
Beyond LGBT and HIV affected community issues, Gernant talked passionately about the role of government to improve the lives of citizens. He hammered at the GOP establishment for its role in the Flint water disaster.
He said the crisis was caused by leaders focused "on the bottom line," and took the actions it did "to save a little bit of money."
"The buck stops with the governor," Gernant said, "and he needs to leave office in my view."
