Late Friday, the Michigan Secretary of State dropped a bombshell when it announced that Thad McCotter didn't appear to have turned in enough valid petition signatures to run in the Republican primary for MI-11. In what appears to be a tacit admission that he indeed came up short of the 1,000 valid signatures he needed, McCotter is apparently giving some thought to running a write-in campaign.
U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, who stunned Michigan politicos Friday when he announced that he may not have submitted enough signatures to get on the Aug. 7 primary ballot, will explore running as a write-in Republican candidate, said a source close to the McCotter campaign.
"He's the only one with the name recognition and the cash on hand to win a write-in race," the source said.
In his last report with the Federal Election Commission, McCotter reported $193,000 in cash available for the upcoming campaign.
McCotter said earlier that he intended to take the entire Memorial Day weekend to review his signatures. So the fact he's already making plans for a write-in bid this early in the process is pretty revealing.
For those who don't know, McCotter turned in 2,000 signatures, the maximum allowed for a congressional primary in Michigan. However, a preliminary review revealed that fewer than the required minimum of 1,000 were valid--and a good many of them were duplicates. Under Michigan law, if duplicate signatures are found, both signatures are thrown out. While it's pretty staggering that a five-term congressman can't get enough valid signatures, to have more than 1,000 out of 2,000 thrown out is embarrassment on an unprecedented scale. It's even more so considering that McCotter essentially drew this district for himself.
Michigan political watcher Bill Ballenger pretty much nails it--if McCotter couldn't get enough valid signatures (something he calls "Politics 101"), it doesn't say much for his chances as a write-in candidate.
Even if--and it's a pretty big if--McCotter manages to win the primary, it's safe to say that his political career is pretty much over. When you've been an elected official for 20 years (six on the Wayne County commission, four in the state senate and 10 in Congress) and you can't do something as simple as circulate petitions, it's safe to say your trajectory in Congress is going to stop dead in its tracks.
Fortunately, when the smoke clears, it looks like we have a solid Dem running here in Dr. Syed Taj. Send him some love here.