MICHIGAN — Five Republican candidates for governor have been removed from the ballot after it was found they turned in fraudulent signatures on their nominating petitions. The candidates who perpetrated a fraud on Michigan taxpayers were former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, self-proclaimed “Quality Guru” Perry Johnson and lesser known candidates Donna Brandenburg, Mike Brown and Michael Markey, Jr.
For Chief Craig it was a sudden end to a poorly ran campaign that found him failing to consolidate the field and mistakes that began with his campaign announcement. Perry Johnson, while he will not be a candidate for governor, either failed to quality control his signatures or knowingly turned in fraudulent signatures, giving him a prize for the most ironic campaign slogan in Michigan political history. It is not known as of press time if criminal investigations into the campaigns’ signature gathering and quality control efforts will be launched.
The State Bureau of Elections did allow DeVos-backed candidate Tudor Dixon to qualify for the ballot despite the fact that her nominating petitions included an untruthful statement about the length of the term of office she was running for. This decision is in contrast to a decision to exclude Democratic candidate for Congress Matt Morgan in 2018 for using a P.O. Box on his nominating petitions. Dixon enters the primary season with a cloud hanging over the campaign due to sloppiness that nearly disqualified her from the ballot.
If the State Board of Canvassers agrees with the decision by the Bureau of Elections then the Republican field for governor will be left with five unknown, untested and unproven candidates – each of whom has expressed support for taking away reproductive freedom from Michiganders.
