The Democratic candidate for state representative in a district of western Oakland County was arraigned Friday on a charge of embezzling about $150,000, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

Jennifer Iki Suidan, 34, of Wolverine Lake, is accused of stealing the money from the campaign fund of Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner. The crime occurred while Suidan worked as his campaign-fund treasurer, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Suidan's name must stay on ballots for the November election in the 39th House District — comprising Commerce Township, part of West Bloomfield Township, the City of Wixom and the Village of Wolverine Lake — because the alleged crime came to light too late to remove her name, election officials said.

Suidan was arraigned Friday morning in 46th District Court and, after she was booked and processed into Oakland County Jail, released on a $25,000 personal bond. Her preliminary examination is set for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 22 before Judge Debra Nance.

If convicted, Suidan — who campaigned as a champion of environmentalists and of LGBT voters — faces up to 20 years in prison and a minimum of probation, according to Oakland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton.

Suidan was the manager of Meisner's successful campaigns for countywide office in 2012 and 2016, he said at a news conference in late September. At the time, Meisner said that a detailed audit had revealed Suidan's embezzlement and that she "betrayed my trust." Meisner along with prominent statewide Democrats then announced they had withdrawn their endorsements of Suidan's run for the 39th House District. Suidan has not returned multiple voice mail, email and Facebook messages left by the Free Press since late September.

Because the district's incumbent — Republican Klint Kesto — is term-limited, the race has pitted Suidan in her first political run against Republican Ryan Berman, a young lawyer also seeking his first public office. And since both were ballot-box newcomers, some pundits had given Suidan a chance at upsetting Berman in the Republican-leaning district, if Democrats turned out en masse. Prior to Kesto, the seat covered a district with somewhat different boundaries and was held by a Democrat — Lisa Brown, who later was elected Oakland County clerk.

Now, with a criminal case pending, it's uncertain even whether Suidan could be seated in the state House, were she victorious in November. It's likely that, if she out-polled Berman, Gov. Rick Snyder would call for a special election, Oakland County Republican Party Chairwoman Theresa Mungioli said this week.

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Suidan worked for five years at the Goodman Acker law firm in Southfield, overseeing Democratic Party campaign funds, before taking a leave of absence about two months ago to campaign full-time, the firm's senior partner Gerald Acker said, at the September news conference held with Meisner at the firm's offices. Acker said then that the firm fired her immediately after the theft of money came to light. The money she is charged with taking came from a fund earmarked for Meisner's next campaign, in 2020, and was donated by his supporters — none of it was "taxpayer dollars," Meisner said at the September news conference. He did not return phone calls this week.

Brandon Dillon, the chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, and other party officials have called for Suidan to drop out of her House race. But as of Thursday, she had made no announcement of her intentions.

Ferndale Mayor David Coulter said last month he predicted that Suidan’s troubles could hurt Democrats because she might’ve won her district after it spent six years in Republican hands.

“That’s definitely a seat that, this year, if the blue wave happens, would be in play,” he said.

Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com. Free Press staff writer Robert Allen contributed to this report.