Norman Shinkle
If you're a political newshound, today is pass-the-popcorn day in Lansing.
Norman Shinkle (File photo)
The Board of State Canvassers meeting today has been moved to a larger room, in anticipation of a full house as the four members determine who qualifies to be on the August primary ballot amid a fraudulent-signature scandal among the Republican gubernatorial candidates that continues to unfold.
Whether or not the board — composed of two Republicans and two Democrats and chaired by Monroe Republican Norman Shinkle — decides to disqualify five GOP candidates, as expected, court challenges are likely.
Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who was once the consensus front-runner in the crowded primary field, is portraying himself as a victim of fraud and a possible conspiracy, after an inspection of his signatures by Bureau of Elections officials determined that nearly half of the roughly 21,000 signatures he filed, which were collected by paid contractors, were forgeries.
... The Michigan Republican Party will tell the board that bureau officials should have evaluated each suspicious petition signature individually, rather than make wholesale dismissals of signatures collected by petition circulators linked to fraud, according to a party legal memo the Free Press obtained Wednesday.
Metro Detroit business executive Perry Johnson, who also used a signature-gathering firm, is also expected to be ousted, along with Donna Brandenberg, of Byron Center, and West Michigan financial adviser Michael Markey. A fifth candidate, Mike Brown, has already dropped out of the race.
Both Johnson and Craig have said they plan to fight any move that keeps them off the ballot.
