DETROIT – The filing deadline for political office has come and gone, and all sorts of busy bees have been combing through the candidate petitions looking for errors.
“It’s the easiest way to get someone disqualified, it’s the easiest way to get someone off the ballot, so the fact that people are looking at this -- there’s nothing surprising there,” said political consultant Dennis Darnoi.
The Michigan Democratic Party is challenging the validity of the petitions of James Craig, Tudor Dixon and Perry Johnson. Former MDP Chairman Mark Brewer is handling the Craig challenge.
“The Craig petitions are the worst set of petitions I’ve ever seen,” Brewer said. Brewer cited claims of forged signatures and other defects.
The Democrats aren’t the only ones challenging Craig’s signatures. A pro-Tudor Dixon super pac is, as well.
Unsurprisingly the Michigan GOP calls the petition challenges desperate. How much of this is performative political theater remains to be seen.
Signature problems have gotten candidates thrown off the ballot before. That’s what happened to former GOP Congressman Thad McCotter in 2012. The Bureau of Elections will have to investigate, and we expect a decision sometime in May.
More: Political coverage