Christina Hines is fed up with the never-ending scandals from the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, and she’s determined to do something about it.
The Warren Democrat, who spent nearly a decade as a professional prosecutor in Wayne and Washtenaw counties, is aiming to unseat Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido in the general election in November.
The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office has been marred by scandals since 2020, when Eric Smith resigned as prosecutor after being charged with 10 criminal counts alleging he embezzled money and committed misconduct in office.
Then came Lucido, a Trump-supporting Republican and former state lawmaker who has been a polarizing presence since taking office in 2021. In his first term, Lucido has been accused of violating election laws, sexually harassing employees, firing a whistleblower, signing off on a “shady backroom deal” with a child abuser, surrounding himself with sexual abusers, and failing to alert the public about high-profile charges against two Warren cops.
Hines, a 34-year-old native of Macomb County and a Wayne State University Law School graduate, finally decided to run against Lucido after his Facebook and Twitter accounts quoted Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, just days after Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January 2023.
Her husband is Black, and their three children are biracial.
“It was truly a lightbulb moment for me,” Hines tells Metro Times. “I realized I needed to run to protect my kids and everyone else’s kids. I walked into my kitchen and told my husband, ‘I’m ready to do this.’ And he said, ‘I’ve been waiting to hear that.’”
Since graduating from law school in 2014, Hines has wasted no time making an impact. So far, she has spent most of her legal career advocating for victims of crime and putting predators behind bars.
After starting her work as a prosecutor in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s General Trials Unit, which prosecutes felonies like armed robbery, home invasions, and homicide, Hines handled crimes involving sexual assault and child abuse.
At the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office, she was promoted to chief of the Special Victims Unit Division, which focuses on sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and child pornography cases, and chief of the Appeals Division. She led the county’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) and started a restorative justice program.
Her early success led to her being recognized as a Notable Women in Law by Crain’s Detroit Business, a 30 in Their 30s by D Business, and a Future Leader by the Detroit Regional Chamber.
Hines attributes her early accomplishments to her commitment to protecting victims of crimes, especially children and women. It’s what inspired her to pursue a career in law.
“I didn’t know exactly what field of law I wanted to practice, but I wanted to advocate for women and children,” Hines says. “I had already known over a dozen women who had been sexually assaulted.”
Hines distinguished herself from Lucido, saying he’s a career politician who’s driven by self-interest and is a magnet for controversy.
“The prosecutor’s office needs to have integrity, and you need a professional prosecutor there, not just a politician,” Hines says. “There are a lot of people across the county who are sick of what has happened in that office under Lucido and Smith. Macomb County is really special. There are a lot of amazing things we can do here, but it requires people solving problems together.”
During Lucido’s first term, the prosecutor’s office has had a 50% turnover rate, and an unprecedented number of criminal cases are ending in plea agreements, according to Hines.
“Everything is being resolved by plea deals,” Hines says. “That has very negative consequences. There are wrongful convictions that result from plea deals, and there are people who are a danger to the community who are getting very lenient offers.”
Hines also emphasizes the importance of rehabilitation and addressing the root causes of crime. Punitive measures alone don’t reduce crime, she says.
“I see public safety as making sure we have good jobs, affordable housing, child care, education, and public transit,” Hines says. “We can do better. If we as a society were dedicated to funding child care so that mothers who are trying to work could actually take their child to a safe place that is affordable, that in and of itself would reduce child sexual abuse by the thousands a year.”
Hines also emphasizes the importance of educating the public and building partnerships. For example, she says, prosecutors need to do a better job combating sextortion, a form of cybercrime that is rapidly on the rise.
“In Washtenaw and Wayne counties, I really focused on keeping kids safe online,” she says. “We worked with teachers and administrators and local law enforcement. We have to keep spreading information to help people understand that this is really serious, and if you give your kids access to social media without making sure you are still talking to them and protecting them, there can be terrible, terrible consequences. We need to be better about getting information out there because it’s only going to get worse.”
Before deciding to run, Hines wondered if she was too young to serve as a county prosecutor, but she was inspired to make the leap after being encouraged by Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and state Rep. Donavan McKinney, both of whom were elected at young ages.
“They told me that being young was not a good reason not to run,” Hines says.
A lot of high-profile elected leaders are supporting her. Hines has received dozens of endorsements from elected officials, from Attorney General Dana Nessel to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Defeating Lucido won’t be easy. He’s a prolific fundraiser and relies on wealthy donors, Hines says. She’s taking a grassroots approach to her campaign, and in the past month, she says she’s knocked on 2,000 doors.
“I love it; it’s my favorite part of the campaign,” she says about door knocking. “I’m getting people’s perspective, and I’m meeting people I would never have met without this experience. It’s powerful, and it’s a blessing for me to do this. I wish I could do it all day, every day.”
The most common concern among residents, she says, is protecting children.
“This is a critically important race,” Hines says. “The county prosecutor is the highest law enforcement official in any county. They have the ability to determine who gets charged, what they get charged with, and they have a great deal of power and influence on sentencing and how people are held accountable.”
But to be successful, she says, the prosecutor needs to have integrity.
More information about Hines and her platform is available at christinahinesformacomb.com.
