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At least three Republican candidates vying to take the governor’s seat in Michigan will not appear on the August primary ballot after a high court decision ended their campaigns after days of legal battles and appeals to qualify.
The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday sided with the state Bureau of Elections in its rulings that presumptive front-runner and former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, businessman Perry Johnson, and financial adviser Michael Markey did not qualify to appear on the primary ballot. The three candidates were initially ruled ineligible in May after the state found they failed to submit enough valid petition signatures.
COURT REJECTS MICHIGAN GOP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES’ APPEALS TO STAY ON BALLOT
The decision puts an end to the candidates’ last-ditch efforts to become the Republican nominee and face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November. The ruling came just hours before the Bureau of Elections was set to send a finalized list of candidates to county clerks so absentee ballots could be mailed out.
In Michigan, candidates need 15,000 signatures to enter the governor’s race. The oversight agencies found nearly 10,000 invalid signatures in Johnson’s case and enough in the other two to disqualify the candidates. The crowded field of candidates vying for the GOP nomination has now thinned to five.
The candidates appealed the state’s decision to disqualify them from the primary, but that ruling was upheld by the Michigan Court of Appeals earlier this week. Craig, Johnson, and Markey each appealed the lower court’s decisions between Wednesday night and Thursday evening.
In Johnson’s case, the court ruled there was “nothing here meriting our further time or attention” because “he cannot show that the Board of State Canvassers had a clear legal duty to certify his name to the ballot,” wrote Chief Justice Bridget McCormack. Those statements were referenced in similar decisions shutting down Craig’s and Markey’s appeals.
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Two other candidates were also barred from appearing on the ballot in the state’s initial decision, including Donna Brandenburg, whose appeal has not yet been decided. Michigan State Police Capt. Michael Brown was also ruled ineligible and dropped out of the race.
The remaining candidates who will appear on the Republican gubernatorial primary ballot Aug. 2 include pastor Ralph Rebandt, chiropractor Garrett Soldano, and businesswoman Tudor Dixon. The winner will face incumbent Whitmer in November.
