GOP rival calls for state Rep. Marino’s removal
Should embattled Republican state Rep. Steve Marino of Harrison Township step down from office?
At least one Republican in Macomb County believes so, but others say he deserves his day in court to challenge the allegations against him by an Oakland County Democratic lawmaker.
The term-limited Marino is facing accusations of domestic abuse made by fellow state Rep. Mari Manoogian after what she described as a volatile relationship that ended in a flurry of intimidating text messages.
Bill Revoir, a Republican who served three terms on the Macomb County Board of Commissioners and lost to Marino in the 2020 election, says the
24th House District needs a representative they can trust and one who can get things done.
“I am calling on (House Speaker) Jason Wentworth to formally ask for Marino’s resignation and fill his seat with someone else until the next election,” Revoir said this week. “As a resident of the 24th District, I don’t have any representation right now. It would be better for Mr. Marino to resign and sort out his life away from the public eye.”
As soon as news of the Marino texts broke last week, Wentworth, a Republican from Farwell, immediately removed Marino from all committee assignments, including his chairing the House Commerce and Tourism Committee, and membership of the Local Government and Municipal Finance Committee.
A spokesman for Wentworth said Marino can enter the state Capitol in Lansing for caucus and to vote. He can enter the House Office Building to access his office for official business, said spokesman Gideon D’Assandro.
Responding to the call for Marino to resign, “the speaker is going to let the legal process play out before he takes further action,” D’Assandro said.
Marino, 32, and Manoogian, 29, had a personal relationship that ended more than a year ago. In the months that followed, Marino sent a series of texts to her. She filed for a personal protection order that was granted.
According to a court filing to support the PPO, Manoogian said the texts contained threats such as he hoped her “car explodes on the way in,” and “you’re truly the worst human being I’ve ever met… just a parasite.”
Michigan State Police have opened a criminal investigation into the messages, according to a department spokesperson.
Crude as the messages are, they may not really rise to the level of threats, said Marino’s Detroit-based attorney Michael Rataj.
Rataj, a Macomb County native, plans to challenge the PPO. A hearing is expected to be held sometime in October.
Rataj said he had no response to Revoir’s call for Marino to resign from office.
“Who really cares what he thinks,” he said.
“Didn’t he ever hear of due process? (Revoir) is probably one of those Republicans who believes in ‘stop the steal’ concerning (Donald) Trump. That’s so anti-democratic. I think they all should be shipped out. They should all just disappear.”
Revoir, 67, a financial and retirement adviser challenged Marino in the 2020 elections because he was concerned by the incumbent’s mounting list of transgressions.
Those included having the worst voting record of the year — he missed 46% of the House votes in 2020, the most of any member in the Legislature — and his name came up repeatedly in court testimony during a 2019 bribery case that targeted another House member. He was able to avoid being served with an FBI subpoena after numerous attempts.
“It’s a question of ethics,” Revoir said. “I understand he is in his final term and is term limited, and both parties are going to resist forcing anyone to resign. But I think these are excessively egregious charges against him that have reached his ability to cast votes because of the PPO.”
Marino easily sailed to victory over Revoir by an 83.7%-to-16.3% margin in Republican primary for the heavily conservative 24th District, which including Harrison Township and parts of Clinton and Macomb Townships.
A former lobbyist and Macomb County commissioner, Marino was first elected to the state house in 2016. He was re-elected three times.
Other Macomb County Republicans also agreed Marino deserves a chance to defend himself against the charges.
Peter Lucido, the current county prosecutor, had his own troubles in Lansing when he was accused of inappropriate behavior toward women while serving as a state senator. The Shelby Township official was removed as chair of the powerful Advice and Consent Committee and ordered to undergo additional training.
Marino’s conduct should ultimately be judged by the voters, Lucido said.
“For one thing, we haven’t heard both sides of the controversy. Aren’t we presumed innocent until proven guilty in America? I don’t see anything in these reported allegations that should lead to his removal,” he said.
Macomb County Public Works Director Candice Miller disagreed with Lucido about Marino being removed from committees, but stopped short of calling for his removal from office.
“Obviously, the speaker has seen some things that went into his decision,” said Miller, a former Congress member and Michigan Secretary of State. “I feel that was the appropriate move to remove him from the committees. I think the speaker did the right thing.”
Miller went on to say she would like to see “a bit more of an investigation” into the matter before deciding if the lawmaker should quit.
Barbara Zinner, who represents Harrison Township on the Macomb County Board of Commissioners, said she hasn’t made up her mind.
“All I can say is if an elected official has committed something truly egregious, they should probably go, but I am not privy to all of what is happening,” she said.