Former Detroit police Chief James Craig vowed that his fight to advance in Michigan's Republican primary for governor would continue, two days after the Michigan Supreme Court declined to place him on the August primary ballot.
On a Sunday Fox News appearance, Craig said he'd be "evaluating next steps" nearly a week after he told The Detroit News he was weighing a write-in campaign after thousands of signatures he gathered to qualify for the primary ballot were disqualified because of suspected forgery.
"It's not over," Craig told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. "I'm not going to let this go."
Craig said the courts didn't "follow the statutes." And when Bartiromo asked if someone was "trying to steal your election," the former police chief said "absolutely."
"It's not about me, Maria," he said. "It's more about Michigan voters. We had so much momentum going in this campaign."
Late last month, the Michigan Bureau of Elections reported 11,113 of the 21,305 signatures that Craig's campaign submitted to get on the ballot were invalid, leaving him 4,808 signatures short of the 15,000-signature threshold.
His was one of five Republican gubernatorial campaigns that fell short of the signature threshold after the bureau determined thousands of signatures were forged by circulators.
Craig and three other candidates for governor appealed the decisions, arguing that the bureau should have examined each signature individually rather than invalidating whole pages from suspected fraudulent circulators.
When Craig's appeal in the Court of Claims was unsuccessful, he appealed up to the Michigan Supreme Court.
The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday declined to place three Republican gubernatorial candidates on the August primary ballot, including Craig who they said would first have to seek redress in the Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals had earlier dismissed challenges from businessman Perry Johnson and Grand Haven financial adviser Michael Markey, who advanced similar arguments to Craig's, making it unlikely appellate judges would change course for the former police chief.
The Michigan Supreme Court in its Friday order in Johnson's case said the complaint "lacks merit because he cannot show that the Board of State Canvassers had a clear legal duty to certify his name to the ballot."
Shortly after the Board of State Canvassers decision, Craig told The Detroit News he was considering launching a write-in campaign for the GOP nomination for governor.
"Because I respect the people who have supported me, I will fight until the end," Craig said about a week ago.
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