Hollier campaign calls Thanedar signature challenge 'voter suppression'
Adam Hollier — the Detroit Democrat trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar — accused the incumbent of trying to toss potentially hundreds of valid voter signatures in a bid to knock his leading challenger off the ballot. Lawyers for Hollier's campaign called Thanedar's challenge to the signatures his opponent filed "fatally flawed."
"At its core, Mr. Thanedar's challenge is a thinly-disguised attempt at voter suppression to prevent the voters from casting their ballot for the candidate of their choosing," the lawyers wrote in a letter to Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett Monday, asking her to reject Thanedar's attempt to disqualify Hollier.
Hollier's campaign did, however, acknowledge it submitted some signatures that appeared clearly forged, and said it's in the process of referring the suspected fraud by paid circulator Londell Thomas to the Wayne County prosecutor.
"At this early state of inquiry, we cannot represent with certainty how many signatures may have been invalid on the petitions Mr. Thomas certified, but we believe that sufficient valid signatures from registered voters within the 13th District remain after any ineligible signatures are disqualified," the lawyers for the Hollier campaign wrote to Garrett.
The campaign provided affidavits from voters in the 13th Congressional District attesting that they signed Hollier's petition, providing evidence that Thomas also collected valid signatures, the lawyers said. They also accused Thanedar's campaign of carrying out a sloppy review that incorrectly determined signers weren't registered to vote.
"It took us two seconds to find the person and show that they were registered at that place," said Kory Kozloski, a senior adviser with Hollier's campaign. Whether Thanedar's campaign conducted a bad analysis or attempted to mislead, the incumbent is afraid of facing Hollier, Kozloski said.
Lawyers for Hollier's campaign also said that Thanedar directed his challenge to the state's elections panel when he should have addressed it to the county clerk. Thanedar dismissed the procedural argument as invalid, saying he sent his challenge to the county.
13th Congressional Democratic Primary: Shri Thanedar challenging campaign signatures submitted by Adam Hollier
Thanedar similarly stood by his campaign's analysis of Hollier's petitions and told the Free Press his opponent failed in his response to demonstrate that he submitted the necessary 1,000 valid signatures from voters residing in the district to qualify for the ballot.
"It's all smoke and mirrors," Thanedar said of the Hollier campaign's response. He emphasized that Hollier's campaign admits to submitting forged signatures. "I mean if you just flip through it, anybody would have realized they are forged signatures. They all look the same," Thanedar said. "That shows blatant incompetence."
Hollier submitted over 1,600 signatures, according to his campaign. Congressional candidates can submit up to 2,000 signatures. Hollier's campaign has asked Garrett to invalidate 85 signatures that appear to be fraudulent.
Thanedar has challenged over 700 signatures submitted by Hollier, a number that threatens Hollier's spot on the ballot. Thanedar noted that Hollier's campaign did not respond to his allegations that the campaign submitted duplicates and voter signatures from outside the 13th Congressional District.
Thanedar won his party's primary in 2022 in a nine-candidate field to represent the solidly Democratic district that includes part of Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park, the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods along with several Downriver communities.
Thanedar's victory along with the reelection of U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, left Detroit — one the nation's largest majority-Black cities — without any Black representation in Congress for the first time in nearly 70 years.
In his bid to unseat Thanedar, Hollier — who is Black — has secured endorsements from prominent Democrats and Black faith leaders in Detroit. Detroit Councilmember Mary Waters and attorney Shakira Lynn Hawkins have also filed to run in 13th District's Democratic primary Aug. 6.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at [email protected] or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hollier responds to Thanedar challenge of voter signatures
