Cindy Gamrat ( née Bauer; born June 15, 1973) is a former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing the 80th district. She was first elected in 2014, after playing a leading role in organizing the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defi ...

in Michigan. She engaged in an extramarital affair with fellow Representative

Todd Courser Todd Anthony Courser (born August 2, 1972) is an American lawyer, Tea Party Republican politician, and former member of the Michigan House of Representatives who resigned his seat when it became clear that he would be expelled for misconduct an ...

, and was expelled from the House in September 2015 for using taxpayer resources in an attempt to cover up the affair.

Political career

Tea Party organizing activity

Gamrat became a Tea Party organizer after moving to Michigan in 2010. Shortly after moving, she founded ''Plainwell Patriots Tea Party'' and in 2011 founded ''Michigan 4 Conservative Senate''. In 2011, Gamrat was leader of the ''Plainwell Patriots Tea Party'' which hosted a United States Senate candidate forum on November 22 of that year. The event featured Cornerstone Schools executive

Clark Durant Wiliam Clark Durant III (born May 13, 1949) is an American businessman who is the co-founder and former CEO of the Cornerstone Schools, a group of charter and independent schools in the inner city of Detroit. Durant was a Republican politician ...

, former Kent County Judge Randy Hekman, libertarian activist

Scotty Boman Scott Avery Boman (born April 14, 1962) * Edited by WDIV Staff http://clickondetroit.com (website). is an American Libertarian politician from Michigan. He has consistently earned among the top votes of any third-party candidate in every Michiga ...

of Detroit, Gary Glenn of Midland, president of the ''American Family Association of Michigan'', and Roscommon businessman Peter Konetchy. ''Michigan 4 Conservative Senate'', also founded by Gamrat, was patterned after successful efforts by Indiana tea party groups that rallied behind

Richard Mourdock Richard Earl Mourdock (born October 8, 1951) is an American politician who served as treasurer of the state of Indiana from 2007 to 2014. Running with the support of the Tea Party movement, he defeated six-term incumbent U.S. Senator Richard Lu ...

as the tea party challenger to Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar. In Michigan, she organized more than 50 tea party groups, under the name ''Michigan 4 Conservative Senate (MI4CS)'', to try to avoid dispersing tea party clout in a field crowded with conservatives. In addition to coordinating forums by tea party groups around the state, ''MI4CS'' organized a candidate forum at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant Michigan on January 14, 2012. The forum preceded a convention of Michigan tea party groups that would decide which of the participating candidates they would support. Clark Durant, Randy Hekman, Scotty Boman, Chuck Marino and Gary Glenn participated, while Peter Konetchy, Rick Wilson, and former Congressman Pete Hoekstra chose not to.

Michigan House of Representatives

With

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

Bob Genetski unable to run for reelection due to

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s, Gamrat ran for election to the Michigan House of Representatives for the 80th district in the 2014 elections on a platform focused on leadership and self-described “family values,” while identifying as part of the

Tea Party Movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defi ...

. Gamrat defeated Geoff Parker of the

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and Arnis Davidsons of the

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in the general election. In April 2015, Gamrat was permanently removed from the Michigan House's Republican Party caucus for violating their confidentiality rules with a

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post. ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on Februar ...

'' published audio recordings on August 7, 2015, in which fellow Michigan Representative

asked staff to create a rumor that he had sex with a

male prostitute Male prostitution is the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. It is a form of sex work. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male pro ...

in order to distract from the affair he was having with Gamrat. Kevin Cotter, the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the Michigan House, initiated an investigation into their use of public funds to cover up their affair. She was found guilty of inappropriate behavior and expelled from the Michigan House on September 11, becoming the fourth lawmaker to be expelled from the legislature in Michigan history. Courser resigned before the House could pass a resolution to expel him. Gamrat filed paperwork with the Allegan County Clerk to become a candidate in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to fill her former seat. She received 9% of the vote in the primary election, finishing in third place. Gamrat was charged with two felony counts of official misconduct for her role in the scandal on February 26, 2016, by

Michigan Attorney General The Attorney General of the State of Michigan is the fourth-ranking official in the U.S. state of Michigan. The officeholder is elected statewide in the November general election alongside the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, m ...

Bill Schuette William Duncan Schuette ( ; born October 13, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd attorney general of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. He was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Senate in 1990 and for Governor of Mi ...

, which comes with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. On June 14, 2016, Lansing District Judge Hugh Clarke Jr. ruled that there is not enough probable cause for Gamrat to face felony misconduct in office charges.

Personal life

Gamrat is a nurse from

Plainwell, Michigan Plainwell is a city in Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,804 at the 2010 census. Plainwell is located on M-89 just east of its junction with US 131. The city of Otsego is about to the west. The city of ...

. She and her ex-husband, Joe, have three children, Paige, Joseph, and Meghan, whom they have homeschooled. Joe was accused of sending Cindy and Courser mysterious text messages during their affair, but was later cleared of any wrongdoing with no charges filed. She filed for divorce in August 2016.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamrat, Cindy 1973 births American nurses American women nurses Living people Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Women state legislators in Michigan People from Plainwell, Michigan Tea Party movement activists Expelled members of the Michigan State Legislature Michigan politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians