Michigan GOP governor hopefuls off ballot, court fight next
Two of the leading candidates for the GOP nomination for Michigan governor say they will ask the courts to intervene after they were found ineligible Thursday for the August primary, reshaping the race to challenge Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the battleground state this fall.
Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who has led in most primary polls, and businessman Perry Johnson, along with three other lesser-known candidates, did not qualify for the ballot. The state elections bureau recommended they be disqualified, saying it found thousands of fraudulent signatures on petitions submitted by the candidates. The vote by the bipartisan Board of State Canvassers was 2-2, with two Democrats supporting the recommendation and two Republicans saying the candidates should get on the ballot.
A tie vote means the candidates lost.
Craig criticized the board's partisan decision as “a travesty” and said the bureau should have done a line-by-line verification of signatures he submitted, rather than rejecting entire pages based on its findings of fraud. He said the campaign will file an “immediate appeal.”
"We are confident that when the law is justly applied, our campaign will be on the ballot this August,” Craig said.
Johnson has already spent millions of his personal fortune on the contest. Attorney Jason Torchinsky said the state's process had “fatal flaws that didn't follow election law” and that he's confident Johnson will be on the ballot after the court review.
The other lesser-known GOP candidates — Donna Brandenburg, Michael Brown and Michael Markey — also were found ineligible after elections staff said they, too, didn’t turn in enough valid signatures. Brown withdrew from the race on Tuesday.
Democrats challenged the GOP candidates’ petitions, alleging mass...