GOP candidate brings foe's dead wife into campaign mix

Steve Marino, a 25-year-old first-time candidate who showed minimal interest in politics prior to 2014, has waded into dark territory by emphasizing the personal bankruptcy suffered by his opponent on today's ballot -- incumbent Democratic county Commissioner Mike Boyle of St. Clair Shores.
When a Macomb Daily story about the county commissioner races published last week did not mention Boyle's bankruptcy, Marino, a Harrison Township Republican, called the newspaper (more than once) to complain and tried to get his supporters to do the same.

What Marino doesn't mention is that Boyle's bankruptcy, which occurred nearly a decade ago, came after his wife died suddenly of a heart attack.
According to Democratic sources, Boyle, a bus mechanic, was stuck with a pile of medical bills and debts related to his wife's suddenly shuttered small business.
Marino seems to think this is all fair game in the political arena.

This rookie politician is one of those odd ducks who runs for office for, well, God knows what reason.
Since he first became a registered voter in 2008, Marino has cast a ballot in just three of 13 elections – a 23 percent turnout rate.
Among the elections he missed was the August primary and November general election during the presidential year of 2008; the November 2009 vote on the Macomb County charter; the August and November elections of 2010; and the presidential primary election of 2012.
The candidate explained that he was away, at Michigan State University earning a couple of degrees, from 2007-12. Apparently, he has never heard of an absentee ballot.

Though he obviously gave little thought to politics in the past, the young challenger is now all in. He has outspent the incumbent by a massive margin, $48,000 to $3,700, with nearly $44,000 in his war chest consisting of his "own" money.
Marino apparently lives with his parents and runs a one-man business out of their home as a campaign finance consultant.
Yet, his own campaign made a very basic error a couple of weeks ago by filing his latest campaign finance report five days late. He was assessed a $75 fine by the county.
Marino blames the blunder on the post office. His election camp complains that Boyle, a former St. Clair Shores city councilman, also has a trail of filing errors. But those consist of minor mistakes on the commissioner's finance documents.
Here's the key fact surrounding Marino's inability to follow the rules: His specialty as a consultant is aiding political candidates with filing their campaign’s financial paperwork.

Marino is certainly a candidate with a certain number of strikes against him. But there's more.
How did he win the GOP nomination in the 10th District (Harrison Township and a portion of St. Clair Shores)? Well, his opponent in the August primary died prior to the election.
In fact, the other Republican candidate passed away in June -- in time for county  officials to keep his name off the ballot.
That was probably good news for Marino. Otherwise, he might have lost to the dead guy.