A press release from Kent County Prosecuting Attorney William Forsyth said that incumbent Schmidt and Michigan House of Representatives Speaker Jase Bolger were involved in a plan to tilt the 2012 election in Schmidt's favor. Schmidt had defected to the Republican Party just before the primary, and allegedly made an arrangement with Bolger to pay 22-year-old Matt Mojzak to run as a Democrat in the election, but not actually conduct a real campaign. On this move, Forsyth claimed, "it is clear that the only logical reason for his [Mojak's] recruitment was to prevent the Democratic Party from mounting a viable write-in candidacy." Forsyth deemed that no laws were broken, stating, "Although this scheme by Rep. Schmidt and Speaker Bolger was clearly designed to undermine the election and to perpetrate a ‘fraud’ on the electorate, it was nonetheless legal...While Mr. Mojak ill-advisedly agreed to participate in this misadventure, it is clear that he was duped into doing so and is the least culpable of anyone involved in this fiasco.” Bolger told mlive.com, "I encouraged a Democrat to be recruited, but the bottom line is that I have always encouraged the law to be followed. This is political gamesmanship and we lost sight that we ought to be focused on the people and bringing them results." Bolger's opponent, Bill Farmer, said of the incident, "Speaker Bolger knowingly attempted to deceive the voters by making shady deals behind the scenes with Roy Schmidt. This was a blatantly political move to benefit the Republican Party. This isn’t how our democracy was meant to work." On July 18, 2012, Democrats in the legislature called on Bolger to step down from the position of Speaker. In calling for a resignation, Senator Gretchen Whitmer said, "Regardless of whether charges are ultimately filed, we know that one of Michigan’s highest ranking leaders engaged in unethical and fraudulent behavior, putting personal politics above the good of Michigan... [Bolger and Schmidt] knew what they were doing. They knew it was wrong... And even now that it’s become public, they still refuse to accept the consequences." In an apology to the people of the district, Schmidt stated, "It’s something that’s been digging in my mind and my heart for over two months. I should’ve consulted. I should’ve said something. In hindsight, I think about it every day, about every hour – why I did this. It was a mistake. It was a poor political decision."