GRAND RAPIDS (WKZO) -- State Representative Roy Schmidt tried but failed to actually break state election law when he offered a man up to one-thousand dollars to run against him as a phantom candidate.

That's the opinion of a law specialist in the Michigan Bureau of Elections in a letter to the attorney for the Grand Rapids Republican, who switched parties to the GOP at the filing deadline and then tried to convince Matt Mojzak to run against him for a payoff.  In her letter, Melissa Malerman wrote that because Mojzak withdrew from the race and no payment was made, no law was broken.

Schmidt lost his bid for reelection in a landslide last month to Democrat Winnie Brinks.