LANSING, Mich. (Great Lakes News) – Former Detroit police Chief James Craig and businessman Perry Johnson, two of the top candidates for the Republican nomination for governor, didn’t submit enough valid petition signatures to make the ballot, according to findings from the Michigan Bureau of Elections.
Only 10,192 of the 21,305 signatures Craig submitted were “facially valid,” leaving him short of the 15,000 signature threshold, according to the bureau.
As for Johnson, the bureau identified 13,800 facially valid signatures, dropping him below the 15,000 threshold and rendering “him ineligible for the ballot.”
Three other GOP candidates for governor were also found to have insufficient signatures: financial adviser Michael Markey of Grand Haven, Michigan State Police commander Michael Brown of Stevensville and entrepreneur Donna Brandenburg of Byron Center.
If the bureau’s reviews hold, five of the 10 candidates who submitted signatures wouldn’t make the ballot.
The Board of State Canvassers, a panel that features two Democrats and two Republicans, will consider the bureau’s findings on Thursday during a meeting in downtown Lansing.
The board could go along with the recommendations or diverge from them. However, it would take three of four board members to go against the recommendations and put a candidate on the ballot who was found to have insufficient petitions, according to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office.
