LANSING, Mich. — Republican Michael Brown, one of five candidates caught up in a wave of reportedly fraudulent petition signatures, withdrew Tuesday morning from the race to be Michigan's next governor.
Brown, a captain with the Michigan State Police, became the first candidate to end a bid for governor after the Bureau of Elections said Monday night that five GOP hopefuls failed to submit enough valid signatures to make the Aug. 2 primary ballot.
"It appears that after my campaign's signature gathering was complete, individuals independently contracted for a portion of our signature gathering and validation jumped onto other campaigns and went on a money grab," Brown said in a statement. "They were involved in allegedly fraudulent signature gathering activities with these campaigns causing the Michigan Bureau of Elections to declare all of the signatures connected to those individuals as invalid.
