7 Michigan congressional candidates tossed from ballot

WASHINGTON — The state Board of Canvassers on Friday accepted recommendations to remove seven Michigan congressional candidates from ballots for the primary election Aug. 7.

The group included Paul Clements, who twice has been the Democratic nominee challenging U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph; Matt Morgan, the only Democrat who filed to run against first-term U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet; and Kristine Bonds, a Republican candidate in the 11th district who is also the daughter of legendary local broadcaster Bill Bonds.

In each of the seven cases, staff at the state Elections Bureau determined that the candidates lacked the requisite 1,000 valid signatures from people registered to vote and living in their districts required on nominating petitions.

In several cases, the candidates only lacked a relatively small number of signatures to get over the 1,000 mark. In the case of Morgan, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, he listed a post office box instead of a street or rural route address on his signature forms, apparently disqualifying the signatures under state law.

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Morgan on Friday said he will go to court to challenge the board's decision and regardless of the outcome of that, he will run a write-in campaign to win the Democratic nomination with hopes of facing Bergman in the fall.

“There is one thing I want to make very clear: I will be on the ballot in November," Morgan said. He is running in the 1st district, which includes much of northern Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula.

In the 11th district race in Oakland and western Wayne counties to replace U.S. Rep. Dave Trott, R-Birmingham, who is stepping down, entrepreneur and attorney Dan Haberman, who was running as a Democrat, suspended his campaign as the Board of Canvassers ruled his 944 signatures were not enough to get him on the ballot.

"Though my campaign verified our signatures both internally and externally and found them to (meet) the amount required by law, the Board of State Canvassers disagreed," said Haberman. He added that while he believed he could win in court, the effort would be too costly in time and money to leave a clear path to win in a crowded primary field.

It was not known whether the others moved off the ballot planned to contest the board's decision in court.

Besides those already mentioned, other candidates taken off the ballot include Nick Schiller, one of two Democrats running to take on U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland; Joe Farrington, a bar owner challenging U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, in the Republican primary; and Eponine Garrod, another Democrat running in the primary to take on Upton this fall.

In Detroit, John Conyers III has also filed a lawsuit to try to force his name on the Democratic ballot in the race to replace his father, former U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., after Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett ruled him ineligible because of a lack of enough valid signatures.

Contact Todd Spangler at 703-854-8947 or at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler.