Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) appears to not have enough signatures to get on the Aug. 5 Democratic primary ballot, Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett told the Detroit Free Press Friday.
At issue is whether two of the people in charge of gathering signatures for Conyers were registered voters, which is a requirement under Michigan law. Legal counsel for Conyers stressed to Roll Call that they expected him to make it onto the ballot.
A candidate must have at least 1,000 valid signatures to get on the ballot, according to Michigan law. In April, Conyers turned in 2,000 signatures to get on the ballot for his re-election. Garrett’s office said that 1,193 of those signatures were valid but if the two-vote gatherers were not registered voters, that puts Conyers under the minimum amount of valid signatures he needs to get on the ballot. Those signature-collectors gathered more than 300 signatures, according to the Free Press.
If Conyers cannot get on the Democratic primary ballot, he would have to run as a write-in candidate in order to retain his seat.
If Conyers, 84, wins re-election he will be serving his 26th term. Conyers is second on the House seniority list behind Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), who is retiring after this term.
You would think his campaign would have taken that into consideration.
Further, you’d think that 50 years would be enough and that the next generation (or the next, or the next) would be ready to lead the people of MI-13?
I like Conyers.
Hell, the man was on Nixon’s enemy list-there’s a badge of honor.
I find it hard to believe he’s 84.
That would mean that I’m… uh…oh shit.
Read about this yesterday. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens all the time I’m told. It was a massive oversight not to check out that his signature-getters weren’t actually registered voters. I feel bad that this has happened. Conyers is truly one of the good guys. He’s had his difficulties, but in overall effectiveness in Congress, and his stance for economic justice while standing up for the little guy, he’s truly progressive from an old-school point of view. I think he was redistricted too, but people know Conyers well in SE MI. He’ll just have to run a more visible campaign that can take advantage of his incumbency, even if he is a write-in. A little self-deprecating humor would be good way to start out his campaign effort, explaining why someone would have to write-in a well-known figure such as himself in this district. He has to get past this somehow. Sorry to have to see him go that route though.
As someone who PERSONALLY watched Issa hire a pack of hard-edged canvassers from the missions and shelters of Nevada, with NO California creds, to get signatures with dubious tactics and outright lies when he grubstaked the Gray Davis recall, this offends me terribly.
HYPOCRITES!!!
EQUAL PROTECTION has become a joke in modern day USA.
Yeah, he’s got a little Charlie Rangel in him, but he’s been willing to put himself out there and fight the good fight for years.
I’ll take him any day.