HOLLAND, Mich — Just over a month before voters in Holland decide their next mayor, some people are receiving robocalls that take aim at candidate Nathan Bocks.
Bocks, an estate planning attorney at Central Park Law on S Shore Drive, is challenging incumbent Mayor Nancy De Boer in the mayoral election on Nov. 5. He said his campaign received news recently that several supporters received calls and messages that misrepresent him.
"They had received robocalls that had used language that was calling me a socialist," Bocks said. "Then we found out Saturday that people were starting to get text messages."
The messages, sent to Bocks' supporter Danielle Peterson, were a survey. Peterson was asked, "Would your impression of Nathan Bocks be less favorable if you knew Bocks considers himself to be a socialist?"
The prompt alludes to a letter written by Bocks following the 2016 presidential election in which he claims, "being labeled a Socialist might not be good for business."
The survey takes lines from the letter out of context, Bocks said.
"One of the goals of the letter was to try to explain to people that using labels like that divides us," he said. "I've helped hundreds of businesses start in the city of Holland and helped them grow. I'm a capitalist – 100 percent."
Mayor De Boer said she was unaware of the robocalls and messages until Bocks informed her.
"I absolutely hate this," De Boer said. "I have never agreed to robocalls on my campaign. Whoever is doing this, I hope they stop it."
According to screenshots, the survey was conducted by the "21st Century Leadership Fund." The address for the organization in Okemos is the same as Doster Law Offices, PLLC.
"I was really surprised and disappointed to see these tactics in our small, local elections," Peterson said. "Voters decide fair, accurate info, and no matter who you support – this 'survey' wasn't that."
Doster Law is headed by attorney Eric Doster, the general counsel for the Michigan Republican Party from 1992-2017. He did not return a call for comment.
De Boer said her campaign filed a complaint about the robocalls and messages with the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
"I have no problem with candidates being held responsible for what they have said or done, but this is did not do," she said. "This is a non-partisan race. I want this stopped!"
There isn't any reason for this, said Bocks, who has worked with De Boer many times, including on the revamped Holland Civic Center.
"Nancy and I are friends," he said. "I would really like to see all of this get behind us so we can talk about the issues people care about."
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