Oakland Man Files Lawsuit To Keep Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Off Ballot

MICHIGAN — An Oakland County man filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the Michigan Court of Appeals arguing Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley should be ineligible for the August ballot because he participated in the Capitol Riot.

Lee Estes, a retired attorney, argued he violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which has a clause that bars any individual who openly rebelled against the United States from holding public office.

"This is an action to prevent Ryan Kelley from appearing on the November 8, 2022, general election ballot as a candidate for Governor because he has ‘engaged in insurrection’ in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and therefore is ineligible to serve as a candidate for Governor for the State of Michigan. He is a clear and present danger to democracy in Michigan," the lawsuit said.

Kelley was charged in connection to the Capital Riot with four misdemeanors after federal agents said he participated in the riot. Although he pleaded not guilty, he has not denied being at the Capitol during the riot.

A video posted on the Twitter account "@MichiganTea" has the same or similar pictures and appears to show Kelley saying, "Come on, let's go! This is it! This is– this is war, baby!" as he moved towards the Capitol building, according to the Department of Justice.

Patch reached out to Kelley's campaign, which has not yet responded. Patch will update this story if they provide a comment.

Kelley, a real estate broker from Allendale, is one of five Republican candidates seeking to challenge Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November after five other Republican candidates were disqualified for massive fraud on their petition forms.

A recent Detroit News/WDIV poll showed Kelley was leading all Republican gubernatorial candidates in the race. However, he was trialing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by nine percentage points.