Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson requested Tuesday that the Oakland County Sheriff's Office investigate filings involving three candidates from the group Tea Party, which is seeking political party status on the November ballot.
The Tea Party candidates include two county commission candidates and one for the state Senate.
Johnson said she is also providing information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation because “fake” Tea Party candidates have reportedly run for office in both Florida and Nevada.
She declined to name two of the three candidates, noting she named one, Aaron Tyler, because he sent a letter saying he hadn't filled out paperwork to appear on the ballot for a county commission seat.
"You have a fake tea party that's trying to deceive people and signatures that don't match from the voter registration cards," Johnson said. "The signatures could be different for reasons other than fraud. I'm only asking them to investigate because I'm very concerned.
"They have the same notary, which was Jason Bauer, who was until Sunday political director for the Democrats of Oakland County," Johnson said.
Bauer resigned his position Sunday, two days after Johnson named him in a news conference as the notary of many of the Tea Party group's candidate filings.
On Monday, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers in a 2-2 vote rejected the group Tea Party's bid to appear on the ballot but the decision is expected to be challenged in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
The Tea Party group filed petitions to appear as a party on the November ballot by the July 15 deadline and later submitted a partial list of candidates to appear on the November ballot.
The list of candidates from Oakland County are:
• Grant Wolski of Troy in county commission District 19, where Republican Mike Bosnic is trying to unseat incumbent Democrat Tim Burns of Clawson. The district represents Clawson and the south half of Troy.
• Ruth Ann Spearman of South Lyon in county commission District 8 representing Lyon Township, Wixom, Walled Lake and part of Novi. Republican Phillip Weipert and Democrat Michele Berry will appear on the November ballot.
• Aaron Tyler of Clarkston for the District 2 county commission seat held by Republican Bill Bullard of Highland. The district represents Holly, Rose, Highland and Springfield townships.
• Matthew David Quinn of Waterford in the 43rd state House district representing Waterford, Lake Angelus and part of West Bloomfield. The seat is held by Republican Gail Haines of Lake Angelus. Also on the November ballot is Democrat Regina Strong.
• Susan Quashot of Royal Oak in the 26th state House district. The seat represents Royal Oak and Madison Heights and is being vacated by term-limited state Rep. Marie Donigan, D-Royal Oak. Also on the ballot are Republican Ken Rosen and Democrat Jim Townsend.
• Andrew S. Nicholls of Waterford in the 26th state Senate district. The seat represents part of Genesee County and the Oakland County communities of Waterford, Springfield, Groveland and Brandon townships. The seat is being vacated by term-limited Sen. Deb Cherry, a Genesee County Democrat. Also on the November ballot are Republican David Robertson of Grand Blanc and Democrat Katherine Houston of Ortonville.
• Heather Sartorius of New Hudson in the 15th state Senate district. The seat represents Holly, Rose, Highland, White Lake, Milford, Commerce, West Bloomfield and Lyon townships plus Novi, Wixom, Walled Lake, Wolverine Lake and Orchard Lake. It is being vacated by term-limited Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi. On the November ballot are White Lake Republican Mike Kowall and Commerce Township Democrat Pam Jackson.
• Thomas Murdock of Troy in the 13th state Senate district. The seat represents Royal Oak, Madison Heights, Clawson, Troy, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township. It is held by Republican John Pappageorge of Troy. Also on the November ballot is Democrat Aaron Bailey.
• Johnathon Young of Auburn Hills in the 12th state Senate district. The seat is being vacated by term-limited Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, and represents Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake, Pontiac, Lake Angelus, Auburn Hills, Rochester, Rochester Hills, and the townships of Oakland, Orion, Independence, Oxford and Addison. On the November ballot are Lake Orion Republican Jim Marleau and Rochester Hills Democrat Casandra Ulbrich.
Besides the Democratic and Republican parties, the only other parties certified to list candidates on the November ballot are the Libertarian Party, the Natural Law Party, the Green Party and the U.S. Taxpayers Party.
Independent candidates will also appear on the ballot.
Contact Charles Crumm at 248-745-4649, charlie.crumm@oakpress.com or follow him on Twitter @crummc.
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