Two Michigan governor candidates, including one who is a business consultant and willing to spend personal million, lost Friday’s appeals. They will not be on the Republican primary ballot due to phony petition signatures, which left them short of 15,000 threshold.
Perry Johnson and Michael Markey were unable to reach the state Supreme Court because of forged signatures that had been created by paid circulators.
Johnson and Markey couldn’t find enough valid names after state officials had renamed the list.
James Craig, Detroit’s ex-police chief, is also in this category. His appeal was denied by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds. He first had to go to Michigan Court of Appeals. He will, however, likely to stay off the Aug. 2, ballot.
“Today was today’s deadline for finalization of ballots. … Tracy Wimmer spokeswoman for the secretary of State.
Craig’s spokesperson received a message seeking comment.
In a May 23 report, the state elections bureau reported widespread evidence of fraud signatures, names and addresses of deceased voters. This conclusion shocked the many GOP candidates who were attempting to challenge Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Five candidates claimed they were victims and deceitful petition circulators and should be on the ballot. The candidates also claimed that thousands of suspicious signatures were invalidated by the state, even though only a small fraction was actually comparable to those in the voter registry.
Last week, the Board of State Canvassers was tied at 2-2 on whether they should be on the ballot. They were dropped because of a tie, which led to lawsuits.
Chief Justice Bridget McCormack stated that “there is nothing here that merits our continued attention,” adding that Johnson cannot show that the “Board of State Canvassers” had a clear legal obligation to certify his name on the ballot.
Justice Richard Bernstein, the sole dissenter, stated that the Supreme Court should at least have heard arguments.
Bernstein stated that Johnson raises serious concerns about the access to the ballot and whether the state’s current process is able to balance fraud concerns with the possibility of voting out both candidates and voters.
Johnson, who calls himself a “quality guru” in business, began to introduce himself to voters through Super Bowl ads. He also pledged to spend some personal fortune.
Five other Republican candidates will still be in the race for the primary: Tudor Dixon and Kevin Rinke, Garrett Soldano and Ralph Rebandt, as well as Ryan Kelley.
Four of these five candidates appeared at the Mackinac Island debate on Thursday. Dixon received an endorsement earlier in the day from Right to Life of Michigan (an anti-abortion group that is influential in Republican politics).
