UPDATE: The story has been changed to reflect that Kent Vanderwood will not face a run-off challenge for mayor in November, as he took more than 50% of the vote in the Aug. 2 primary.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The incoming mayor of Wyoming is one of 16 people who signed a fake Electoral College certificate declaring former President Donald Trump the winner of Michigan in the 2020 election.
Wyoming councilmember and mayor-elect Kent Vanderwood was among a group of Republicans who in late 2020 signed documents that falsely identified themselves as the state’s electors in what some allege was a coordinated effort to subvert the election results in favor of Trump across a handful of swing states.
Vanderwood, who has served on the Wyoming City Council for the past 16 years, on Aug. 2 won the three-way primary to replace retiring, longtime Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll. Because Vanderwood took more than 50% of the vote, it will not go to a run-off election in November.
Kent County election officials expect the primary results to be certified later Friday, Aug. 12.
Vanderwood will be sworn in in December and lead Kent County’s second-largest city of about 76,500 residents. Wyoming is located in the metro Grand Rapids area.
Vanderwood declined to talk about his signing of the fake Electoral College certificate, saying his attorney’s advice is to not answer questions. He did, however, say he answered questions about it while campaigning and knocking on doors but that it “rarely came up.”
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