(WWJ) – Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig plans to take his hopes of being on the Republican ballot for governor to the Michigan Supreme Court after losing an appeal over invalid petition signatures.
A judge on Thursday declined to put Craig on the ballot for the August primary, a day after two other GOP candidates – Troy-based businessman Perry Johnson and Michael Markey of Grand Haven – lost similar appeals over fraudulent signatures.
Craig was once the Republican frontrunner to challenge Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in this fall’s election, but now pending a Supreme Court challenge, his name may not even be on the ballot.
Craig, Johnson and Markey were among five candidates that did not reach the 15,000-signature threshold required to qualify for the primary ballot after the Michigan Bureau of Elections found more than three dozen ballot circulators turned in phony signatures.
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Michigan’s Board of Canvassers then split a vote that kept them off the ballot, which led to the candidates taking it to the Court of Appeals.
In a written statement, Craig called the decision "disappointing" but added the "fight is not over."
“I am very disappointed with the Court of Claims’ decision. I am also discouraged by their complete disregard to the law and case precedent,” Craig’s statement said. “It is clearly stated that the Bureau of Elections must go line by line in order to invalidate a signature. This was not done; admittedly by the BOE during their testimony before the Board of Canvassers. We will continue to fight for our campaign to be on the August primary ballot as a Republican candidate for Governor. The voters should be deciding who their candidates are, not an unelected board of government bureaucrats. Rest assured, we will be appealing this questionable decision to a higher court. Our fight is not over.”
Sources tell WWJ that Craig is also considering running as a write-in candidate, if necessary.
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