House Television via AP In this image from video, Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, April 23.

MARQUETTE — A “Defund Bergman” campaign has been established to ask donors to withdraw financial contributions to U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet.

According to its Facebook page, the campaign was built and powered by a “grassroots citizen engagement” from across the 1st Congressional District, with constituents from the Keweenaw Peninsula to Munsing and Sault Ste. Marie, and below the Mackinac Bridge from Cheboygan to Charlevoix, Buckley and Traverse City.

“We are taking a stand as proud Michiganders who are telling Jack Bergman’s financial enablers to stop backing Jack and his lies to attack our democracy,” the recent post reads.

In a recent Zoom meeting, Betsy Coffia, a member of the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners, talked about the group’s efforts.

“Most of us believe that democracy works best when the will of the people is respected, but Jack Bergman has worked to undermine voters, undermine our voices, by spreading lies about the election,” said Coffia, who noted Bergman refuses to accept the November presidential election results that the states have already certified.

“Jack Bergman needs to denounce the lies he spread about the election and apologize for trying to disenfranchise us, the voters,” she said.

Coffia said the Defund Bergman campaign was created to hold Bergman and his donors accountable.

“Many counties in the 1st Congressional District went red, some went blue, but in all, we saw a fair, orderly, professional process in every one of our clerks, and all 83 counties certified our results as valid,” Coffia said.

In a Jan. 13 Facebook post, Bergman said the move to impeach then-President Trump will only further divide the nation and “undoubtedly delay or derail legislation” that would help constituents.

“Let me be clear — as a nation, we must address the issues that led to last week’s riot at the Capitol, and I will continue to unequivocally denounce these actions and all who participated in these riots,” Bergman wrote in the post.

In a post made on Jan. 6, the day of the insurrection at the Capitol, Bergman wrote, “I said before, the decision we have before us was not binary — it was not founded in overturning an election, but grounded in securing free and fair elections and protecting election integrity. Congress and state legislatures have an obligation to provide restored confidence to the tens of millions of Americans who have lost faith in our election (process).”

He also said that the actions of the mob that stormed the Capitol were “un-American and a disgrace to our republic.”

During the Electoral College certification process on Jan. 6, Bergman voted against accepting Electoral College votes won by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

The Defund Bergman Facebook post indicated that the group’s members had planned letter-writing campaigns as well as digital media actions.

A website, defundbergman.com, shows Bergman’s donor list.

James Hogge, Bergman’s communications director, issued a statement on behalf of the congressman regarding the defund initiative.

“It comes as no surprise that woke radical leftists are attacking General Bergman and attempting to publicly shame anyone who exercises their Constitutional right to financially support him,” Hogge said. “Since day one, General Bergman has stood on his principles and fought for the First District — our jobs, our workers, our environment, our infrastructure, our freedoms and our values.

“Less than two months ago, the general won the election by over 100,000 votes because the constituents of the district know that he works hard for them every day. General Bergman is not going to back away from what he’s doing simply because a few members of the woke mob want to ‘cancel’ anyone who would dare question their narrative.”

Matthew Goss, chairman of the Marquette County Republican Party, said in an email, “It is my opinion that we need to show support to our elected officials and respect the office that they are serving. If our elected officials succeed, we succeed as a community and as a country.”

The Mining Journal was unable to reach the Marquette County Democratic Party for comment.