Tuesday marked the candidate filing deadline in Michigan.
Republicans Aric Nesbitt and Perry Johnson were among the last from their party to turn in nominating petition signatures in their bids for governor.
Johnson, a businessman and self-described “quality guru,” pulled up to the Michigan Bureau of Elections office Tuesday afternoon in a campaign bus blasting the campaign song he recently unveiled.
Since jumping into the race in January, Johnson has polled near the front of the six-person field.
That’s as Johnson has spent some of his personal fortune flooding the state with ads.
“We spend what’s necessary in order to win the election and right now we have a lot of momentum so you can see it wherever we go,” Johnson told reporters Thursday when asked if there was a limit to how much he would spend.
Meanwhile, Nesbitt, the Michigan Senate Minority Leader, has been near the middle of the pack. Though he has had success courting establishment Republicans.
Nesbitt, who also rolled out ad-buys, said he’ll close that gap with the frontrunners through disciplined campaigning and a positive message.
“To make sure our families can make it here in the state, to increase the wages of working families, to decrease the costs for working families, while also making sure that job creators can invest and grow here in Michigan and making sure our kids can grow here in Michigan,” Nesbitt said.
Other Republicans in the primary race include Congressman John James(R, MI-10), former Attorney General Mike Cox, former Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard, and pastor Ralph Rebandt.
Each of the contenders had previously dropped off their signatures to get on the ballot. Next, the non-partisan state Bureau of Elections staff will review the signatures to see if the candidates collected enough valid ones to make the ballot.
The Board of State Canvassers, made up of two Republicans and two Democrats, will get the final word.
Four years ago, Johnson and other Republicans didn’t make the ballot after getting caught up in a signature fraud scandal.
Despite the safeguards in the process, Johnson said he believes a conflict of interest exists for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is a Democratic candidate for governor.
“I just think that, because we end up having the Secretary of State in charge of her own election, that she ought to recuse herself and maybe we have the fed supervise and be in charge,” Johnson said.
Democrats have resisted attempts by the Trump Administration to get involved with Michigan’s elections. They fear federal oversight would feed lies about widespread voter fraud.
In a written statement, Michigan Department of State spokesperson Angela Benander noted that Benson wouldn’t be part of the signature verification process to begin with.
“Either these candidates for governor haven’t bothered to take a few minutes to read and understand Michigan Election Law or they know they’re spreading lies about the process,” Benander said.
“It’s also alarming that people seeking the highest office in the state continue to ask the federal government to do things they have no authority to do. As we have repeatedly had to remind some politicians this year, the US Constitution places the power to determine the time, place, and manner of elections with the states. The federal government has no legal authority to run our elections.”
Johnson’s calls for federal involvement come after the federal Department of Justice requested extensive voting records from Wayne County from the 2024 election.
Other Republicans, including James, have called for cooperation. But Democrats again have derided the call as a chance to sow mistrust in the state’s election system.
