The number of candidates in the Republican primary for the 50th state House seat currently held by Bob Bezotte is growing as attorney Kristina Lyke enters the race.
The 50th House District includes the city of Howell and the village of Fowlerville, plus the townships of Cohoctah, Conway, Deerfield, Handy, Hartland, Howell, Iosco, Marion, Oceola, Unadilla, southern Tyrone Township, and the north and west parts of Putnam Township.
Lyke joins Jason Woolford and Dominic Restuccia in seeking the Republican nomination to the seat for which Bezotte is not running.
Bezotte, 73, was first elected to the state House in 2020. Under new term limits approved by voters in 2022, legislators can serve a total of 12 combined years in the Michigan House and Senate, making Bezotte eligible to serve for eight more years. (Click here for more.)
Bezotte is currently involved in divorce proceedings with his wife of 51 years, who claimed in her Nov. 30 divorce filing that she has suffered “mental, emotional and physical abuse throughout the marriage,” but did not elaborate further. Bezotte denied her claims in his response.
Lyke ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for the 8th District Congressional seat in 2020.
Lyke works as an attorney at Lyke Law in East Lansing. A Pinckney native, she currently lives in Fowlerville. She made history in Pinckney when, at the age of 20, she became the youngest person and first woman ever to serve on the Pinckney Board of Trustees.
Lyke was elected to the Pinckney board a second time, though it’s unclear how long she served. She interned for a year with state Rep. Dan Gustafson, and worked for state Rep. Paul DeWeese and then Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus. After graduating from Cooley Law School, she started practicing law and opened Lyke Law in East Lansing.
In a release announcing her candidacy, Lyke said that her legislative priorities if elected would be to solve the problems of fentanyl, opioids and sex trafficking in Michigan; fiscal responsibility through review and oversight of state spending; quality education; protection of Constitutional rights; and local zoning control of solar and wind farms.
For more information on Lyke, contact info@livingstonlikeslyke.com.
