Jury convicts 2 in signature scandal that doomed 2022 Michigan candidates for governor

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MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — Two people were convicted of forgery and other crimes Monday in an election petition scandal that spoiled the candidacies of five Republicans who were running for Michigan governor in 2022.

The petitions were rife with bogus signatures and, as a result, the candidates didn’t have enough valid ones to qualify for the GOP primary election that year. The candidates included former Detroit police Chief James Craig and millionaire businessman Perry Johnson, who is running again this year.

No candidate was personally accused of knowingly submitting fraudulent petitions.

The fraud “denied millions of Michiganders a choice in the 2022 gubernatorial election,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

Shawn Wilmoth and Willie Reed were each convicted of forgery, running a criminal enterprise and other crimes after a trial in suburban Detroit. They will be sentenced March 18. Jamie Wilmoth was found not guilty.

Defense lawyers tried to shift blame to dozens of petition circulators, telling the jury that Shawn Wilmoth and Reed were defrauded, too.

Nine campaigns, including some Detroit-area judicial candidates, paid more than $700,000 to businesses affiliated with Reed and Shawn Wilmoth to get signatures, the attorney general's office said.

Candidates needed 15,000 signatures from voters to get on the Republican primary ballot. State elections staff believe people at times simply sat around a table, signed petitions and passed them around.

After the scandal, Tudor Dixon emerged as the Republican nominee for governor, but she lost the general election to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.