Endorsement: Christina Hines, not Pete Lucido, best choice for Macomb County prosecutor

Pete Lucido’s tenure in Michigan politics has never been dull.

But it ought to be over.

Lucido, a Republican, became Macomb County prosecutor in 2020, and is seeking re-election this year against Democratic challenger Christina Hines.

A political newcomer, Hines, 34, faces an uphill battle to unseat Lucido, 64, whose career has been dogged by controversy and reports of harassment.

Hines, a veteran of the prosecutor’s offices in Wayne and Washtenaw counties, is experienced, focused, ready to serve and free of the baggage that calls Lucido’s character — and its impact on his professional aptitude — into question.

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Since Lucido became Macomb County prosecutor, 55 staffers have left the roughly 140-person office. He maintains that most departures were the sort that inevitably occur during a changing of the guard, or motivated by employees reluctant to return to in-office work, which he mandated early in his term.

Lucido says the office is currently fully staffed, with no vacancies. But we’re not convinced that 40% turnover in three years can be explained by any sort of routine or even pandemic-related circumstances. The county government’s average annual turnover rate is 9%.

Residents of Macomb County should cast their ballots for CHRISTINA HINES. She is a better fit for the prosecutor’s office, and a new face for the next generation of Macomb County political leadership.

A better fit for Macomb

Christina Hines, a law professor at Wayne State University, describes herself as a public servant, not a politician, with a deep understanding of the county’s voters — who’ve twice voted for former President Donald Trump, but have also twice supported Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

"I excel at the middle,” she said.

Hines understands that Macomb County is more complex than outsiders like to believe, and is home to diverse communities. Her campaign materials have been translated into Arabic, Bangla and Hmong.

Among her priorities: protecting Macomb County’s cherished natural resources by reviving the office’s environmental protection unit and prosecuting polluters; advocating for adequate police funds; pushing for mental health experts to join police on calls involving psychological illness; supporting trauma-informed training for both police and prosecutors; focusing on addiction treatment and diversion programs in drug cases, and expunging past convictions that would be treated differently today.

Hines views diversity as key to victim advocacy and wants to make sure those working in the prosecutor’s office have the dignity and discretion to prosecute.

She demonstrates deep familiarity with existing restorative justice and conflict resolution programs in Macomb County schools and community groups that could make for strong partnerships with the prosecutor’s office.

She wants to establish clear statements of mission and values for the prosecutor’s office and boasts a style of leadership focused on listening and bringing people to the table.

Born and raised in Warren, Hines attended the University of Michigan and Wayne State University Law School before accepting a job in Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office. Worthy has endorsed Hines’ candidacy (along with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and a slew of other Macomb County elected officials, including state Sens. Paul Wojno, Veronica Kleinfelt and Kevin Hertel, state Reps. Veronica Paiz, Kimberly Edwards, Mai Xiong and Donavan McKinney, Warren Mayor Lori Stone, Eastpointe Mayor Michael Klinefelt, Mount Clemens Mayor Laura Kropp, Clinton Township Treasurer Paul Gieleghem — the list goes on).

Hines was recruited in 2021 to Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit’s office, where she served as chief of the appeals and special victims unit divisions and led the county’s initiative to investigate and prosecute cold-case sex assaults, managing three teams and starting a restorative justice program. Hines has continued to live in Macomb, even while working outside of the county, and is the mother of three young children. She understands that Washtenaw and Macomb are different places, and that some of the initiatives launched in the former aren't the right fit for the latter.

“When I went to U-M, I knew I wanted to be in a space where I could advocate for women and children who are victims of sexual abuse — by the time I went to college, I knew over a dozen women who had been sexually assaulted — and I decided I wanted to be a prosecutor,” Hines said.

To serve in that role, she said, is “an incredible honor.”

Hines said she is running for prosecutor because Lucido hasn't respected the office he holds — and it has affected the way he operates the prosecutor’s office.

She said a January social media post from the prosecutor’s office was the straw that broke camel’s back, leading to her to run against Lucido.

The post commemorated the birthday of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee with a quote from Lee on the cruelty of war. Lucido later apologized and called the post inappropriate.

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Lucido’s troubled history

Lucido, an attorney in Macomb County, ran for the state Legislature in 2014, beating GOP fixture Stan Grot in what was at the time the most expensive House race in Michigan history. Lucido, now 64, was re-elected in 2016, and won a seat in the state Senate in 2018. Two years into his four-year term, Lucido, whose courtroom experience was largely as a defense attorney, ran for Macomb County prosecutor, defeating Democratic opponent Mary A. Chrzanowski in 2020 with 52% of the vote.

Lucido burst to internet fame in 2016 when a photo of him at a Trump rally — mid-shout, fist punching the air — went viral.

He can also be an expressive and articulate speaker, and an affable, persuasive politician. During his legislative tenure, he played a key role in rounding up support for some important criminal justice reforms. As prosecutor, he started Macomb County’s first conviction integrity unit, a warrant appeals unit and a hate crimes unit.

Yet his public service has been characterized by reports of abusive, harassing behavior, both in the Legislature and the prosecutor's office — incidents referred to, by many we spoke to in Macomb County, as his “foibles.”

In Lansing, while his own party held majority power, an investigation by the Senate Business Office upheld accusations that Lucido made a crude remark to a female reporter in front of a group of high school boys and inappropriately touched a female colleague’s body, a complaint also made by female member of a trade association. Lucido was stripped of a committee chairmanship and ordered to undergo training, but continued to proclaim his innocence. In an interview with the Free Press Editorial Board this month, he seemed to suggest that the claims were orchestrated by supporters of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer:

"You know, for me to be a person that worked over 35 years as a lawyer, had a staff of women that ran the office with me, none of this stuff was ever brought up until I got to Lansing. And then all of a sudden, when I had some issues regarding the way the governor was doing certain things, certain of these individuals started calling me out. I can't tell you but this. I didn't do anything that they're claiming, that they contend I did. I'm not calling them liars, but if I shook your hand and you tell me that I put my hand around your back or something like that, I shake hands, and I do things that are different maybe than others, the way they present. I come from a very open, loving Italian family, and I've never had this kind of situation."

In 2022, the county retained employment law firm Butzel Long to investigate complaints of workforce harassment. Lucido refused to participate with the investigation. The report detailed complaints that Lucido routinely subjected female employees to inappropriate remarks, calling one woman “Double D,” asking another if, after having a baby, she would still fit into her court clothes, saying on Valentine’s Day that he wanted “kisses from my ladies,” and telling a female employee that her new shoes were “kicking up smoke.” Investigators found these complaints were credible, along with a complaint that Lucido assigned work to prosecutors based on race.

In an endorsement interview with the Detroit Free Press Editorial Board, Lucido said he believed that investigation, too, was politically motivated, and offered the following explanation: “There was no reason other than to hurt Pete Lucido. It was a politically motivated report. The people that were in there didn't like certain things that I was doing, but it wasn't about any sexual harassment. You can say anything you want, but when somebody says, ‘Oh, he made a comment about my shoes,’ and when the person goes walking up and down your office showing me her shoes, I said, ‘Could you get your shoes and leave my office, please?’ There's just certain things that are just taken out of content.”

With Christina Hines as prosecutor, we’re confident the office will be free of such foibles.

Residents of Michigan’s third-largest county deserve capable, diligent representation, and we believe Hines will give it to them.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Endorsement: Christina Hines, not Pete Lucido, for Macomb prosecutor