James Craig Loses Court Battle, Won't Appear On MI Ballot: Report

MICHIGAN — The Michigan Court of Claims denied hearing an appeal from retired Detroit Police Chief James Craig after state election officials disqualified him from August's Primary Elections, according to multiple reports.

In rejecting Craig's appeal, the court cited its Wednesday decision in refusing to hear an appeal from Oakland County businessman Perry Johnson. The court also rejected an appeal from Republican Michael Markey Jr., who was also deemed ineligible by state election officials.

Johnson appealed the court's Wednesday decision to the Michigan Supreme Court. He also asked the court to make a quick decision to determine whether he should be placed on the ballot since ballots have to be finalized on Friday, so absentee ballots can be mailed out to military and overseas voters on June 18, as well as all other absentee voters starting June 23.

Craig will also appeal the court's decision to the state supreme court after he said state election officials did not properly vet the signatures on his petition form

"We will continue to fight for our campaign to be on the August primary ballot as a Republican candidate for Governor. The voters should be deciding who their candidates are, not an unelected board of government bureaucrats," Craig said.

Craig, the once presumed front-runner for the Republican nomination to face Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November, was disqualified from the state's primary elections in August after state election officials said they found massive fraud, including paid, forged and dead people's signatures on his petition forms.

This is a developing story. Stay with Patch for updates