5 Circulators From 2024 Fraud Memo Appear On Johnson Petitions

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/06/2026) Five petition circulators whose names appeared in a 2024 Bureau of Elections memo identifying petition sheets with “clear indications of fraud” also circulated petitions for Republican gubernatorial candidate Perry Johnson's this year, according to information shared with MIRS.

MIRS was informed that Laurence Gooden, Robert Harris, Brigette Hawkins, Loren Primm and Gersena Guyton — all listed in the Bureau’s 2024 memo — signed circulator certificates on Johnson petition sheets submitted this year.

It's possible the petitions turned in by these circulators are valid this year. However, the presence of these circulators (particularly Guyton whose family has had criminal charges leveled against them), puts a spotlight on Johnson, who had too many bad signatures thrown out for him to make the ballot in 2022.

Even if every signature collected by those five circulators were tossed, it would not necessarily threaten Johnson’s ballot access. Johnson submitted 30,000 signatures, which is twice the 15,000 required to qualify for the Republican primary ballot — meaning challengers would need to knock out more than half of his filing to keep him off the ballot.

Johnson contracted two firms to handle the signatures. They are defending their work product.

It's estimated that a few hundred signatures (or roughly 5%) came from these five. However, the information comes the day before the Bureau of Elections' deadline to challenge petitions. May 7 is the deadline to challenge a signature. MIRS is told that various interests are looking into whether Johnson had enough signatures to make the ballot.

Also, the revelation lands awkwardly for Johnson, who has publicly touted the quality of his filings this go around.

“I’m like the quality guru,” Johnson told reporters on April 15 when asked about his signatures. “Once you see there’s a problem, you have to solve the problem. So we have gone overboard. I admit I’ve gone overboard to the nth degree.” He said he his team collected around 40,000 signatures and turned in the best 30,000.

Johnson described the signatures as the “crème de la crème.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate John James (R-Shelby Township)'s Campaign Manager, Jackson Gross, said that given Johnson's “record of negligence and fraud,” none of this was surprising.

“Perry Johnson has torched 15 million dollars, still trails us by over 20 points, and is now back again with fraudulent petition circulators," Gross said. "Michiganders are tired of the games and ready for serious leadership. We look forward to defeating him in August.”

A spokesperson for the Bureau of Elections, Angela Benander, did not respond to repeated phone calls and text messages seeking comment.