text: PORTAGE, MI — A local Democratic state House candidate is crying foul after the Michigan GOP sent out campaign mailers this week directing Republicans to call him at a number for his 91-year-old mother's room at a Portage-based nursing home. 
   
   The mailers, which were paid for by the Michigan Republican Party, urge voters to call John Fisher, a candidate for the 61st state House District, and "Tell him hard-working Michiganders are being hurt by Obamacare and the health care policies (Democrats) support." 
   
   Fisher's campaign acknowledged it had no issue with past Republican mailers that told voters to call him at his personal number, but the candidate said Republicans took it too far by directing citizens to call Fisher at his mother's number. The number is registered under Fisher's name, but is a direct line to his mother's room at Tendercare Portage, where Isabel Kramb is currently receiving hospice care for congestive heart failure, said Fisher's campaign manager David Topping. 
   
   Fisher, a 64-year-old Oshtemo Township pastor, is running against Republican Kalamazoo County Commissioner Brandt Iden and Libertarian Michael Stampfler in a bid to represent the state's 61st House District, which covers the city of Portage as well as Oshtemo, Schoolcraft, Texas and Prairie Ronde townships. 
   
   "To direct people to call a suffering woman who deserves peace and comfort is beyond the pale," Fisher said in a prepared statement. "Their lack of ethics and contempt for personal privacy is just another reason for people to question what – or better, who – the Republican Party stands for, so that they can make a wise decision at the ballot box on Nov. 4." 
   
   Iden, 31, said in a brief statement that he does not condone the tactics utilized by his party in this instance. 
   
   "Obviously, as you know, it was not sent out by our campaign," Iden said. "I don't condone negative campaign tactics and it's not something my campaign has done or anticipates doing. 
   
   "I hope Mr. Fisher would do the same." 
   
   A Michigan Republican Party spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. 
   
   Meanwhile, Fisher called on Iden to distance himself from the Michigan GOP. 
   
   "My competitor, Brandt Iden, should denounce the Michigan Republican Party for such appalling tactics in his name," Fisher said in the news release. "Lansing Republicans showed contempt for all seniors when they forced them to pay extra in order to fund giveaways for major corporations. 
   
   "The men and women who worked hard all their lives so that their families could succeed deserve better than that, and I will work hard to protect the dignity and security of Michigan seniors when I am in Lansing." 
   
   Alex Mitchell covers county government and taxes for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Email him at amitche5@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter. ||||| PORTAGE, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - The Newschannel 3 I-Team is taking a closer look at what some are calling a case of politics at its worst. 
   
   
   
   When it comes to political ads and campaigns, especially in an election year, fact and fiction are never easily separated. 
   
   
   
   But Newschannel 3 worked with both sides of the aisle Thursday night, and gave it a shot in the name of bipartisanship. 
   
   
   
   Now that 91-year-old Isabel Kramb's son, Reverend John Fisher, is running for office, she's getting a good dose of politics. 
   
   
   
   "Frustrating doesn't begin to touch it," Fisher said. 
   
   
   
   It started with Fisher received a mailer directing voters to call and complain about the Affordable Care Act at a number he didn't recognize. 
   
   
   
   "When I dialed it, it came up on my cellphone, and it said, 'Mom,'" Fisher said. 
   
   
   
   It turns out, he wasn't the only one to call her at her nursing home. 
   
   
   
   "I said, 'I'm sorry, he's not here, I'm his mother,'" Kramb said. 
   
   
   
   The Michigan Republican Party says they accept responsibility for the mailer, and sent a statement which apologized for any distress that was caused, adding that it wasn't their intention to have people call Fisher's mother. 
   
   
   
   "You have to dig to find this phone number being connected with me," Fisher said. 
   
   
   
   The Republican Party says it found the number under John Fisher on an Internet directory, which Newschannel 3 was also able to do in a matter of minutes. 
   
   
   
   "It's just unconscionable that people would be steered to call her and complain," Fisher said. 
   
   
   
   Newschannel 3 also asked Fisher if wheeling his mother out of her nursing home to talk about the unconsionable acts by Republicans wasn't equally underhanded. 
   
   
   
   "I don't know how it could be underhanded to try to remind people not to call my mom," Fisher said. "I'm doing it in part to point out the lack of responsibility and thoughtfulness which is what I'm running against." 
   
   
   
   Newschannel 3 left several messages for the Republican candidate in the 61st State District House race, Kalamazoo County Commissioner Brandt Iden, but we have not received a comment on the incident from his campaign.
target: – John Fisher has no beef with voters calling him on his personal phone, but please don't call his 91-year-old mother. The Michigan Democrat, who's running for a state House seat, is fired up after a GOP campaign mailer was sent out this week telling people in the city of Portage to call him and "tell him hard-working Michiganders are being hurt by ObamaCare and the health care policies [Democrats] support." Which would've been fine, except the phone number on the mailer was the direct line to his mother's room at a local nursing home, where she's being given hospice care for congestive heart failure, Fisher's campaign manager tells Michigan Live. Fisher didn't recognize the number when he got his hands on the mailer. "When I dialed it, it came up on my cellphone, and it said, 'Mom,'" he tells WWMT. Meanwhile, Isabel Kramb fielded her son's calls from her room, giving a stock answer of "I'm sorry, he's not here, I'm his mother," she tells the station. The Michigan GOP says it discovered the number online under Fisher's name and apologized "for any distress that was caused" by Kramb receiving the phone calls. In a statement cited by Michigan Live, Fisher railed on the campaign promo, noting that "to direct people to call a suffering woman who deserves peace and comfort is beyond the pale." He also spoke about the mailer outside the nursing home—with his mother present. WMMT asked him if that was perhaps also in poor taste. "I don't know how it could be underhanded to try to remind people not to call my mom," Fisher said.