PRESS RELEASE
CARLSON CALLS OUT BERMAN CAMPAIGN OVER FABRICATED SOURCES & DEFAMATORY ATTACK AD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Contact: info@senancarlsonforsenate.com
MILFORD, Mich. - In Senate District 13, Republicans are attempting to exploit the pain and suffering of sexual abuse victims and their families to score political points.
Republicans’ latest ad attempts to connect candidate Sean Carlson to a lawsuit in which 11 families are suing convicted sex offender Timothy Daugherty and several Huron Valley School District employees, the educational staffing company EduStaff, and the Huron Valley School District itself over sexual abuse by Daugherty when he was a substitute teacher at Huron Valley.
The claims in this ad are outright false. Carlson’s Huron Valley School Board term ended at the end of 2022. Daugherty’s misconduct wasn’t reported to the school board until 2024. Additionally, Carlson was never mentioned in the lawsuit or the news coverage surrounding the lawsuit.
“I try to ignore the baseless attacks on my character, but this ad went way across the line. My opponent, Ryan Berman, and his affiliates, manipulated a citation to create a narrative to attack me and use the pain and suffering of child victims and their families to score political points,” Carlson, a proven public servant, military veteran, and the Democratic candidate for Senate District 13, said. “As a military veteran, my oath to defend the Constitution and uphold free speech remains paramount. But defending liberty does not mean enabling defamation; unchecked slander undermines the very principles veterans swore to protect. The voters of this district deserve a Senator with empathy and morals, and these campaign tactics prove that Ryan Berman failed that test.”
To back up their false claims, Republicans went so far as to invent a citation out of thin air. The ad cites “WDIV Sept. 25, 2022,” as one of its sources. No such article exists and no allegations were made publicly against Daugherty until 2024, two years after the date of the SRCC’s fictional citation. In addition, none of the actual articles about the lawsuit mention Carlson because he was never mentioned in the lawsuit.
“Ryan Berman and his Republican backers are getting so desperate that they’re creating articles out of thin air and will cross any line to distract from Berman’s own record of voting to defund our public schools and voting against capping prescription drug costs,” Olivia Bradish, spokesperson for Carlson, said. “Berman has a responsibility to voters to be honest and take accountability. Republicans must pull the ad off the air immediately.”
In response to the ad, Carlson’s legal counsel sent a takedown letter to stations airing the ad, and a cease and desist letter to the Michigan Senate Republican Campaign Committee.
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