James Craig, a former Detroit police chief who was running for Michigan governor, said he remembers pleasant conversations with petition circulators at his campaign events this spring and never suspected anything untoward was happening.
“I’m the candidate out giving speeches, and you think you have professionals working for you on the ground getting signatures. I had no idea anything was amiss,” said Craig, who was considered a front-runner for the GOP nomination. He had raised $2 million, more than any other Republican vying to compete against incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November.
But a state elections panel in May disqualified Craig and four other Republican gubernatorial candidates, removing them from the GOP primary ballot after officials found thousands of fake signatures on their candidate petitions.
