On Monday, five Michigan Republican candidates for governor failed to file enough nominating signatures that would qualify them for the August primary.
Related: Michigan bureau: 2 top GOP governor candidates short signatures due to fraud
Ten Republicans filed petitions by April 19 to enter the GOP primary race in hopes of running against Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the 2022 gubernatorial election.
In late April, Michigan GOP governor candidates were already being challenged due to alleged fraud.
Many of the running candidates used the same firm to collect ballot signatures. The Board of Elections said thousands of signatures were forged by the people paid to collect the signatures.
“What I am seeing and what we have been made aware of is fraud on a pretty epic scale,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel. “We will be likely investigating some of those cases.”
Sources say that James Craig submitted 10,192 valid signatures, which, to qualify for the primary, he would have needed 15,000 signatures. The former Detroit police chief submitted 21,305 signatures, but after officials reviewed them, they found 11,113 signatures invalid.
Below is a statement made by Craig calling on Michigan’s attorney general to investigate.
You can read the entire complaint from April against Craig and his petitions below.
Perry Johnson was also one of the five Republican candidates that failed to get enough signatures. Johnson filed 23,193 signatures, but only 13,800 were facially valid. Johnson also needed 15,000 to be on the August primary ballot.
Johnson’s campaign sent out a statement Monday night.
You can read the entire complaint from April against Johnson and his petitions below.
One of the Republican candidates, Michael Brown, dropped out of the race following the announcement of the failed nominating signatures.
“I cannot and will not be associated with this activity,” Brown wrote, in part, on Tuesday. “We built this campaign on common-sense conservative principles with a positive message of prosperity, safety, and respect for all the citizens of Michigan ... I will exit the race for Michigan’s Governor with my integrity and this principle intact.”
Read more: GOP candidate Michael Brown exits race for Michigan gov. amid petition challenges
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers is set to meet this week to determine who will appear on the ballot for the 2022 gubernatorial primary election in August after five GOP candidates reportedly failed to submit enough nominating signatures.
If the board agrees with the bureau’s recommendations and bars the five candidates from the ballot, the five qualifying GOP candidates would include Dixon, Garrett Soldano, Kevin Rinke, Ryan Kelley and Ralph Rebandt.
For more info: Details: Why petitions for 3 Michigan GOP governor candidates are being challenged