Michigan’s Supreme Court on Friday cut off the chances of at least three Republican gubernatorial candidates running in the primary vote in August, sided with the U.S. election bureau, saying a flood of fake signatures was enough to prevent them from qualify for the primary election.
State Supreme Court rulings 6-1 mean former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, seen by many as a favorite for the GOP nomination, and businessman Perry Johnson, who has invested millions of dollars in his campaign, are out of the race.
A majority in court rejected the appeals of Craig, Johnson and financial adviser Michael Markie of Grand Haven, arguing in Johnson’s case that “nothing deserves our extra time or attention.”
Johnson’s appeal was “unfounded because he could not show that the Council of State had a clear legal obligation to certify his name on the ballot,” wrote Chief Justice Bridget McCormack.
McCormack, a Democratic nominee, described the Johnson challenge as a self-determined quality guru as a quarrel with the methodology of the Board of State Animators.
Judges Brian Zahra and David Viviano, two Republican nominees, agreed with McCormack, but Zahra asked the legislature to extend the petition by at least six weeks to give the judiciary more time to review the challenges.
Democrat-nominated Judge Richard Bernstein disagreed, saying there should be oral arguments in the case because “it presents important legal issues that deserve further consideration.”
“Because I believe this case is a significant legal issue that is worth considering, I would order a full briefing on this case and hold an oral debate next week to ensure that the interests of Michigan voters are fully taken into account.” , Bernstein wrote in his disagreement.
The statements of the judges in the Johnson case were also mentioned in their decisions for Craig and Mark.
Between Wednesday night and Thursday night, Johnson, Craig, Markie and Donna Brandenburg of the Byron Center appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s decisions and put them to the primary vote in August. The decision came as the Election Bureau had to send a list of certified candidates to county officials at 5pm on Friday.
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The fifth candidate caught in the paycheck for alleged falsification of petitions, Michigan State Police Captain Michael Brown, dropped out of the race.
The Michigan Electoral Bureau released reports on May 23 stating that the five gubernatorial candidates had not submitted the required 15,000 valid petition signatures needed to appear in the August primary, as much of the signatures appear to be are counterfeit.
The election bureau said it believed that 36 petitioners “submitted fake petition sheets consisting entirely of invalid signatures”. The bureau said it was “unaware of another election cycle in which so many distributors have sent such a significant amount of fraudulent petition sheets consisting of invalid signatures”.
The board of state agitators came to a dead end on May 26th over whether the five Republican candidates should be on the ballot. A 2-2 vote on the board meant that candidates’ petitions could not be certified for participation in the August 2 primary vote.
Republican candidates challenging the decision say the bureau should have checked the validity of each signature instead of relying on an on-site inspection of about 7,000 of the 68,000 alleged counterfeits.
Lower courts have so far ruled that the bureau is required to investigate signatures, but not to compare each with the signatures in the Michigan qualified voters’ file.
The other five gubernatorial candidates who provided the necessary signatures to appear in the primary vote in August are Pastor Ralph Reband of Farmington Hills, chiropractor Gareth Soldano of Matawan, businessman Kevin Rinke of Bloomfield Township Real Estate, and Kevin Rinke of Real Estate. Allendale and Conservative commentator and businesswoman Tudor Dixon of Norton Shores.
The winner of the GOP primary will face Democratic Gov. Gothen Whitmer in November.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
cmauger@detroitnews.com
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