The “We Need the Chief” Super Political Action Committee, the fund started by former Gov. John Engler to support former Detroit Policer Chief James Craig, has not brought in any money since it was formed in August. The SuperPAC reported it was running a debt of $110 today. Political action committees were required to file their quarterly financial reports today.
The report lends credence to word in Lansing that Engler has walked away from the PAC as Craig has failed to instill confidence in his campaign. On top of that report, MIRS has learned another gubernatorial campaign is looking seriously into challenging Craig's petition signatures by Tuesday's deadline.
Craig's campaign claims it turned in 21,000 signatures, more than the 6,000 needed to qualify for the ballot, but a source tell MIRS several of the signatures were collected in areas of low registered voters and initial reports signal there may be issues. Also, MIRS has confirmed from a independent source that Craig's campaign attempted to turn in 4,000-5,000 additional signatures with the Bureau of Elections during last Tuesday's filing deadline, but the staffer was turned away after he showed up at 4:20 p.m., twenty minutes after the filing deadline.
As if the Craig campaign needed more bad news today, U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman (R) announced he was switching support from Craig to Perry Johnson.
“While I respect Chief Craig’s service, I can no longer in good faith extend my support to a candidate’s campaign that continues to neglect our grassroots across the First District and has ignored campaigning in northern Michigan and the U.P. in favor of a self-proclaimed Detroit-centric approach,” Bergman said.
“We're proud of our work in the U.P. and Northern Michigan,” Craig said. “We will continue to share our conservative message of solving problems and leading from the front all across this state.”
The quote came the same day Johnson started a small town tour that included stops at the Cops and Donuts shop in Clare and the Sen. Jim Stamas (R-Midland) family's Pizza Sam's in Midland.
“The other candidates are broke and hoping for a SuperPAC to give their failing campaigns life support,” the official said in an email.
The Chief James Craig for Governor filing in January showed the candidate with about $1.2 million. As for other gubernatorial-related PAC
Michigan Needs an Adjustment, a PAC tied to Garrett Soldano, is reporting bringing in $20 for the year.
Michigan Strong, a super PAC backing Tudor Dixon, is reporting bringing in $248,000, most of which was spent over the same quarter, leaving $309,312 in the coffers.
The Building Bridges PAC, which backs Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, reported a balance of $2,786 today. It reported pulling in $1,829 for the quarter, which is far lower than the $123,652 reported in January.
