Ex-Detroit Chief to Newsmax: Will Fight to Remain on Gubernatorial Ballot

Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, one of several GOP hopefuls who remains ineligible for the August primary in Michigan's gubernatorial race after the state's board of canvassers deadlocked on whether to allow petition signatures that are under investigation for allegedly being fraudulent, said on Newsmax on Friday that his campaign will fight in court to be allowed to remain on the ballot.

"Frankly, I'm not at all surprised," the Detroit Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report." "This board is split by two Republicans and two Democrats. The Democrats voted against, first of all, the process they used to eliminate us … what we are going to do is fight. I'm ready to fight."

The board's decision is keeping Craig and four other GOP candidates off the ballot after an alleged wave of forged petition signatures, reports The Detroit News.

This means a high-profile legal battle is coming ahead, as absentee ballots for the Aug. 2 voting must be available in less than one month.

Another GOP candidate, Michael Markey, said in a statement to Newsmax Friday that he will also fight the canvasser's rulings in court.

Democrat canvasser Mary Ellen Gurewitz told The Detroit News Thursday, before the vote, that the board has "an obligation to determine whether the requisite number of qualified and registered voters have signed these petitions. What we know is for at least 30 circulators, all of the petition signatures that they have submitted are false."

Both Democrat canvassers voted to accept the recommendation from Michigan's Bureau of Elections to keep the GOP candidates off the ballot because of the alleged forgeries, but the Republican canvassers argued that the bureau did not analyze every signature that had been submitted.

Craig told Newsmax that he feels the canvassers' investigation process is "questionable."

"Let's say hypothetically, they look at a page where there was a forged or an alleged forged signature," he said. "They just counted every name on the page. So that's not the appropriate process that should be used. So we're concerned about it. We're taking it seriously, and we are going to fight. We are appealing, in fact, as we speak."

The decision in the governor's race, he added, "should be in the hands of the voters, not a split [between] two Republicans and two Democrats. Now, this thing has become very partisan. This is about the integrity of the process, and I think it's flawed."

However, Craig said that his campaign does not "discount the fact that it appears that there were some signatures forged," and he wants individuals who engaged in such "criminal activity to be held accountable."

Craig added that he has confidence in his team that went out to collect signatures, but that team "initially subcontracted out to another team, and then, [from] what I'm told there was another subcontracting."

"So I question the oversight in this case," said Craig. "I'm not responsible for doing the investigation. I have my own personal team looking into this matter. We want to get to the truth, and we want Michigan voters to be able to vote for the candidate who they want to see sitting in the governor's seat."

The upcoming court fights will hinge on whether signatures must be analyzed on their own or if entire swaths of signatures submitted by circulators should be deemed invalid, The Detroit News reports.

GOP canvasser Norm Shinkle said he does think fraudulent petition circulators should go to prison, but he does not think the candidates should be blocked from the ballot and harmed by the actions of the people circulating the allegedly fraudulent petitions and signatures.

Tony Daunt, the other GOP canvasser, drew connections to the unproven fraud claims made in the 2020 election, saying it would be unjust to deprive voters of their choice based on the assumptions, even though his "gut tells me these are probably fraudulent."

"The burden of proof is on the government to reject the rights of Michigan citizens, and I cannot base these important decisions on assumptions," he added.

Mackey, meanwhile, said he questions how the state board can assert that signatures were invalid "when they can't even get the basic numbers on their report right."

“Michiganders deserve the opportunity to vote for any candidate who rightfully qualifies for the ballot, as any fair adherence to due process will show that we have done," he said. "I am the best candidate to beat Gov. [Gretchen] Whitmer and put an end to her abysmal policies this November. I am merely asking for a fair shot and for the secretary of state and the Board of State Canvassers to follow and apply evenly their own regulations."

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