Goei a House write-in candidate again

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Add one more candidate to the 76th District House race, making six total for voters to choose from on Nov. 6.

Bing Goei, who ran as a write-in in the Republican primary, will take another shot at the seat in the general election.

Goei filed the paperwork to run as a write-in in the general election on Tuesday afternoon with the Kent County Clerk.

As in the primary, Goei's name will not appear on the ballot. Instead, voters will have to write his name in a blank space to vote for him.

The unusually large number of candidates in the race is in part the result of the last-minute party switch of incumbent Rep. Roy Schmidt. He withdrew his filing to become a Republican at the last minute, then recruited a fake candidate to run as a Democrat.

That led to one investigation in Kent County that did not result in charges. Another investigation requested by state Democrats is being conducted by a one-person grand jury in Ingham County.

In the Aug. 7 primary, Goei gave Schmidt a run for his money. Data obtained by 24 Hour News 8 showed absentee ballots accounted for the votes that gave Schmidt the win -- and many of those were cast before the party-switch debacle came to light.

In addition to Schmidt running as a Republican and Goei as a write-in, Winnie Brinks is the Democratic candidate.

Patricia Steinport is running as a Libertarian, the U.S. Taxpayer party is represented by William Mohr and Keith Allard is running as an Independent.