Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers will meet on Thursday to determine if five Republican candidates running for the governor’s race will be disqualified from the ballot, including top Republicans former Detroit Police Chief James Craig and Perry Johnson.
Via ABC News:
Michigan’s elections bureau said late Monday that five Republican candidates for governor, including two leading contenders, failed to file enough valid nominating signatures and should not qualify for the August primary.
The stunning recommendations immediately transformed the race in the battleground state and dealt a major blow to former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who has led in primary polling despite campaign problems, and businessman Perry Johnson, who has spent millions of his own money to run. Democrats had challenged their petitions, alleging mass forgery and other issues. Another GOP candidate, Tudor Dixon, had also contested Craig’s voter signatures as fake.
The bipartisan, four-member Board of State Canvassers will meet Thursday to consider the elections bureau’s findings of fraud across five gubernatorial campaigns. The Republican candidates, who are vying to face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November, could end up going to court if they do not make the ballot.
If the canvassers agree with the recommendations, the 10-person field of political newcomers would be cut in half to five. Those qualifying for the ballot would be Dixon, a former conservative TV news host who netted the DeVos family endorsement earlier Monday; chiropractor and grassroots activist Garrett Soldano; wealthy self-funding businessman Kevin Rinke; real estate broker and anti-coronavirus lockdown activist Ryan Kelley; and pastor Ralph Rebandt.
This is outrageous, especially coming from a state where there was rampant election fraud.
What makes this even worse is that James Craig is the favorite among Republicans, with RCP putting him at +17 points over the rest of the field.
If the Board of State Canvassers actually drops these five Republican candidates, per the findings of the elections bureau, then you can believe this will end up in court on the day it happens. And it absolutely should.