A federal judge put Michigan Rep. John Conyers, one of the longest-serving Democrats in Congress, on the primary ballot Friday hours after state election officials declared him ineligible.
Earlier Friday, Conyers lost his appeal to get on the August primary ballot after state officials found problems with his nominating petitions.
Hours later, Detroit federal Judge Matthew Leitman issued an injunction ordering that Conyers' name be placed on the ballot.
The first decision, from the Secretary of State's office, determined that Detroit-area officials were correct in keeping Conyers off the ballot, since he 'failed to submit' a minimum of 1,000 signatures to qualify.
Wayne County officials had said there were problems with some people who collected signatures -- the circulators weren't registered to vote or had listed a wrong registration address. Under Michigan law, that can spoil petitions.
Killing Conyers' career in such a way would be 'pretty outrageous,' his lawyer, John Pirich, said this week.
But an attorney for a Democratic challenger, the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, said Conyers for decades had no problem following the law.
'In essence, they played the game, lost and then complained that the rules were unfair,' Eric Doster said, quoting a Virginia judge.
Conyers has spent 50 years in Congress and is the second most-senior member of the House, only to Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who is already retiring.Fox News' Mike Emanuel and http://ift.tt/1m1lLds contributed to this report.
Entities 0 Name: Conyers Count: 6 1 Name: Congress Count: 2 2 Name: Michigan Count: 2 3 Name: Wayne County Count: 1 4 Name: House Count: 1 5 Name: D-Mich. Count: 1 6 Name: Virginia Count: 1 7 Name: John Dingell Count: 1 8 Name: http://ift.tt/1m1lLds Count: 1 9 Name: State Count: 1 10 Name: Horace Sheffield III Count: 1 11 Name: Detroit Count: 1 12 Name: John Conyers Count: 1 13 Name: Judge Matthew Leitman Count: 1 14 Name: Eric Doster Count: 1 15 Name: Fox News Count: 1 16 Name: Mike Emanuel Count: 1 17 Name: John Pirich Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1k1WE5G Title: John Conyers Loses Appeal To Get On 2014 Ballot Description: Posted: Print Article DETROIT (AP) - Michigan election officials have affirmed a decision to keep longtime Detroit congressman John Conyers off the August primary ballot. The Secretary of State's office said Friday it found problems with the Democrat's nominating petitions. Conyers is required to file signatures from at least 1,000 voters in his district.
