Lawmaker (D) stopped attending session, kept spending campaign cash
Lansing — Democratic state Rep. Karen Whitsett missed four straight months of House session last year but continued to receive campaign contributions and spend thousands of dollars out of her House campaign fundraising account, according to a Detroit News review.
Whitsett, who unsuccessfully ran for Detroit City Council last year and previously said she was battling chronic migraines, missed all 30 session days for which representatives' attendance was taken from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31. Yet, over that same time period, her House campaign account provided $2,850 in reimbursements to Whitsett and expended another $750 on BidNet, which describes itself as "the most trusted name in government bidding."
It wasn't clear why Whitsett was paying BidNet, but her disclosure said it was for "AI (artificial intelligence) and website subscription." In April, Whitsett's campaign made a series of four payments totaling $1,700 through Cash App, a mobile payment platform. Her report described the expenditures as only "officeholder expenses."
On Oct. 29 — a day when Whitsett missed four House votes — her House committee reported giving her $200 for what was described only as "Rudy Hobbs payment." While there is a former lawmaker and lobbyist named Rudy Hobbs, a Democrat from Southfield, Whitsett suggested, in a brief phone interview, that the $200 payment was actually for a senior citizen’s groceries.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/04/michigan-lawmaker-karen-whitsett-stopped-attending-house-session-kept-spending-campaign-cash/88500379007/