Lansing — The Board of State Canvassers voted Thursday to give Republican candidate for governor Perry Johnson a spot on the August primary ballot but to disqualify another GOP hopeful, Ralph Rebandt.
The unanimous decision in favor of Johnson, a wealthy businessman from Bloomfield Hills, came from the bipartisan panel despite a whistleblower who alleged Johnson's campaign falsified petition documents.
The Detroit News obtained an affidavit signed by a Johnson campaign consultant Wednesday, a day before the meeting. The affidavit claimed that Johnson's team ran sheets featuring more than 10,000 signatures through a printer to add a required "paid for" statement after the forms were signed.
A political action committee supporting another GOP candidate, U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, had delivered the affidavit to police.
However, members of the canvassing board said they hadn't received the affidavit or any information that they could act on during Thursday's meeting to prevent Johnson from making the ballot.
"We have nothing," said Richard Houskamp, a Republican member of the canvassing board.
Before the affidavit became public, the Michigan Bureau of Elections, which examined Johnson's petitions, determined he turned in 22,406 valid signatures, more than 7,000 above the required 15,000-signature threshold for candidates for governor.
Michael Pattwell, a lawyer working with Mission Michigan, the PAC supporting James, and Charlie Spies, a lawyer for the James...
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