[DETROITNEWS] bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
-- U.S. Rep. John Conyers does not have enough signatures to remain on the Aug. 5 ballot, Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett said Tuesday -- a decision that puts his half-century career in Congress at risk.
Garrett called the decision about the fellow Detroit Democrat unfortunate, but said she's "bound by the current laws and statutes of the State of Michigan that set forth very specific and narrow instructions regarding candidate petitions and the authority of the County Clerk."
"It is a very unfortunate circumstance that an issue with a circulator of a petition would disqualify the signature of valid registered voter," Garrett said in a statement released Tuesday. Her ruling confirms a staff investigation released Friday that found Conyers had 592 signatures -- 408 less than the 1,000 required by state law.
More than 640 signatures for Conyers, 84, were disqualified after a challenge by primary opponent the Rev. Horace Sheffield of Detroit resulted in a clerk office staff's finding that the petition circulators were not registered voters as required by state law. It disqualifies the longest-serving African-American in Congress and means Sheffield is the only Democratic candidate on the Aug. 5 ballot for the 13th Congressional District, which includes Detroit and other parts of Wayne County.
Sheffield said he has respect for Garrett and her decision, considering she could have "done something different." Still, Sheffield said he's focusing his efforts on winning an election.
"I've not really pinned my hopes on the congressman being put off the ballot," said Sheffield, noting his recent campaign stops throughout the Wayne County suburbs "... I'm focused on my fight to stand up for people in the district."