Signature gatherers accused of sinking Michigan GOP campaigns to face trial
WARREN — Three people accused of collecting fraudulent signatures to help get numerous political candidates on the 2022 ballot — including five Republican gubernatorial candidates — will now face trial on multiple felony charges, a Warren judge ruled Thursday.
All the candidates had their petitions rejected by the state Bureau of Elections because of the fake signatures and were unable to run in the August 2022 primary.
On Thursday, Judge John Chmura of the 37th District Court in Warren, bound two of the defendants, Jamie Wilmoth-Goodin and Willie Reed, over for trial at the end of a lengthy preliminary hearing that started in January.
The third accused, Shawn Wilmoth, was bound over in April, according to court records.
During the initial hearing in January, veteran political consultant John Yob, who worked for the campaigns of former Detroit Police Chief James Craig and millionaire businessman Perry Johnson, testified: “I have never seen anything like this before.”
Shawn Wilmoth, Jamie Wilmoth-Goodin and Willie Reed now face multiple felonies for allegedly collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars before submitting tens of thousands of fake signatures.
Candidates for governor, including Craig, Johnson, Donna Brandenburg, Michael Brown and Michael Markey Jr. and several judicial candidates were knocked off the ballot for insufficient signatures.
Each had hired firms tied to the trio.
Witnesses, including candidates including Craig and Brandenburg, told Chmura how nearly 70,000 bad signatures — costing as much as $11 apiece — were thrown out by the Michigan Bureau of Elections.
Michigan requires gubernatorial candidates to get 15,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
A state official said in January that between the candidates there were 70,000 fake signatures.
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Attorney General Dana Nessel brought the charges in 2023. She has also sought tax-related charges against Wilmoth.
“The signatures furnished by these defendants were clear forgeries and fabrications, and the harm the victim campaigns suffered is substantial and without remedy,” Nessel said in a statement released Thursday. “This alleged criminal enterprise brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars, and those responsible face very serious charges.”
In 2022, the Bureau of Elections released images of the petitions to demonstrate the extent of the alleged forgeries, noted that a handful of individual petition circulators accounted for thousands of bad signatures.
The alleged fraud occurred after the costs of signatures rose dramatically amid the pandemic. Amid a worker shortage, costs rose to $5 to $7 per signature to more than $10 per signature.
The scandal reshaped the 2022 election, knocking out Craig and Johnson, who had kicked off his campaign with a $1.5 million ad during the Super Bowl.
Eventually conservative news host Tudor Dixon won the primary but was beaten soundly by Democratic incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the general election.
Wilmoth, Wilmoth-Godin and Reed face dozens of years in prison if convicted. Each faces a charge of conducting a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony, eight counts of election law forgery, a 5-year felony, and other charges.
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