The Michigan Bureau of Elections has found Democratic candidate Curtis Hertel Jr. has qualified to run for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, recommending the rejection of a challenge to his campaign.
Earlier this month, Norm Shinkle, a former Republican member of the Board of State Canvassers, filed a challenge against Hertel’s candidacy, claiming the former state lawmaker made an error on his candidate affidavit and nominating petition when he wrote that he was running for “U.S. Congress” instead of the U.S. House.
The challenge sought the review of all 1,687 petition signatures the Hertel campaign gathered and submitted towards his nomination.
According to the results of the review, there was no confusion regarding Hertel’s candidacy, as he specified on the forms the district for which he was running for.
“Hertel’s designation on his petition sheets of ‘U.S. Congress’ along with a district number means that he could only be a candidate for the U.S. House,” the Bureau of Elections wrote.
The recommendation aligns with Hertel’s response to the initial challenge, which included copies of nominating petitions of six candidates for the U.S House certified for the ballot in 2022. Many indicated they were running for “Congress” or “U.S Congress” instead of the U.S. House.
The state elections bureau concluded there was no ambiguity to the filings.
“At the federal level a district number could apply only to a candidate for the U.S. House, as there are no district numbers assigned to the U.S. Senate,” states the review.
Shinkle’s legal team did not respond to WKAR’s request for comment on the decision.
The Bureau of Elections review did find 98 invalid signatures in Hertel’s nominating petition due to invalid addresses, missing dates or other errors. The remaining valid petitions placed Hertel above the 1,000 signatures needed to secure his candidacy for the 7th Congressional District.
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers is expected to evaluate the Bureau of Election’s findings at its next meeting on May 31.
