Detroit Evening Report: Wayne County Clerk removes Adam Hollier from congressional ballot

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FILE - Former state Sen. Adam Hollier attends a press conference with other Detroit lawmakers and activists regarding the redistricting of Michigan Congressional maps, Oct. 12, 2021.

FILE - Former state Sen. Adam Hollier attends a press conference with other Detroit lawmakers and activists regarding the redistricting of Michigan Congressional maps, Oct. 12, 2021.

Former Michigan state Sen. Adam Hollier failed to file enough voter signatures to land a spot on the congressional ballot, staff from the Wayne County Clerk’s Office announced this week.

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The Detroit Democrat was hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, who filed the paperwork to challenge Hollier’s appearance on the August primary ballot due to the lack of signatures. The report released Thursday by Clerk Cathy Garrett’s election staff says Hollier fell 137 signatures short of the 1,000 required to qualify for the ballot, the Detroit Free Press reported. Hollier had submitted 1,553 signatures, but only 863 were deemed valid. The other 690 were unvalidated for reasons such as duplicate signatures or signatures from voters who weren’t registered.

A statement issue Thursday by Hollier’s campaign attorney Melvin Butch Hollowell said they were “disappointed” in the decision.

“…not only for Adam, but for the voters across the 13th District who deserve a real choice in who their next Congressperson will be,” Hollowell said. “We are also incredibly troubled by the fact that, according to the Clerk’s staff report, 296 of the voters Rep. Thanedar tried to disqualify are in fact lawful electors. This is voter suppression by any other name. We are in the process of carefully reviewing our next steps and will have more to say shortly.”

This year, Hollier has received endorsements from prominent Democrats and faith leaders in Detroit for his campaign, which has emphasized the importance of bringing back Black representation in Congress for Detroit.

The primary election will take place on Aug. 6.

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Author

  • Hernz Laguerre
    Hernz Laguerre Jr. is a Multimedia Journalist at 101.9 WDET. He is one of the co-host for "Detroit Evening Report," one of the weekend anchors for "Weekend Edition," the producer for our political podcast, "MichMash," and reports on arts, culture and politics.