© 2025 Michigan State University Board of Trustees
Public Media from Michigan State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Selected stories from the WKAR NewsRoom in your morning email. SUBSCRIBE HERE

McCotter Expected To Announce Plans

Congressman Thad McCotter
Courtesy photo
Congressman Thad McCotter

Michigan Congressman Thad McCotter is expected to announce his plans following news that his campaign may not have gathered enough petition signatures to qualify for the primary ballot.McCotter is an iconoclastic politician who ran a brief campaign for president earlier this year. Once that effort appeared doomed, he suspended his presidential ambitions to seek another term in Congress.

The news shocked Michigan political circles over the Memorial Day weekend that the five-term member of Congress appears – but it is not a certainty -- to have failed to get the petition signatures he needed to get on the ballot. That opens a lot of possibilities. McCotter could run a write-in campaign, but other Republicans are also eying a race as potential write-in candidates. It would take a lot of money and effort to get on the ballot as a write-in candidate under Michigan’s election rules.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.
Together we’ve already reduced WKAR’s $1.6 million budget gap created by the loss of federal funding. With your sustaining support we can close the remaining $500,000 gap and keep trusted public media strong for mid-Michigan. The best way to support WKAR is to become a sustainer. Already a sustainer? Please consider upgrading your current monthly gift.