Downriver Dem files complaint against primary opponent, a trans woman, over her name on the ballot

A Democrat running for Michigan’s 2nd House District in November has filed a campaign complaint against one of his primary opponents, a transgender woman, alleging that she violated state campaign law by not listing her deadname on her affidavit of identity submitted to run for office.

Frank Liberati, who represented Michigan’s 13th House District from 2015 to 2021, filed the complaint with the Wayne County Clerk’s office on Tuesday against Joanna Whaley, a clergy member from Lincoln Park. Liberati’s complaint alleges that Whaley did not list her legal name when she filed to run for office, citing a 2023 dismissed name change petition.

But Whaley did legally change her name — though the court proceeding that Liberati references in his complaint did lapse in 2023, she was able at a later date to go back to court and finish the legal proceedings. Those court records were sealed for her safety, she explained, as she was more of a public figure by that point.

Jay Kaplan, the LGBTQ+ Rights Project staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan, also explained that Whaley, who has used the name Joanna for around five years, would qualify to have that name on the ballot as a “common law name,” or the name that a person is generally known by.



https://michiganadvance.com/2026/04/30/downriver-dem-files-complaint-against-primary-opponent-a-trans-woman-over-her-name-on-the-ballot/