YOUR WEEK IN DETROIT

Your Week in Metro Detroit: Michigan's signature fraud scandal

Leah Olajide
Detroit Free Press

Good morning, Free Press subscribers!

I’m Paul Egan and I work out of Lansing, covering state government for the Free Press.

If the sometimes strange and always controversial workings of Michigan government and politics interest you, I trust and hope that this was a week when your digital subscription to the Free Press paid off.

Michigan is in the throes of its biggest signature fraud scandal in state history. Ironically, the candidates for governor who — apparently unknowingly — filed thousands of fraudulent signatures with their nominating petitions were some of the same Republican candidates who made election integrity and fighting fraud central themes of their appeals to voters.

In addition to covering daily developments, we delivered several stories exclusively for subscribers. One used a question-and-answer format to cut through the jargon and tell readers exactly what was happening, how it was upending the Republican race for governor, and how fraudulent petition signatures had impacted Michigan politics in the past. Another subscriber story revealed details about one of the signature collection companies suspected of being involved in the fraud, and the Michigan man who heads that company. A third provided a scene-setter for Thursday’s contentious meeting of the Board of State Canvassers, detailing in advance the arguments the various parties would make. 

We continue to follow this story aggressively, as court challenges and other new developments arise.

Your subscriptions make this kind of comprehensive and exclusive coverage possible. Thank you so much for your support.

I can be reached at 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow me on Twitter @paulegan4.

Paul Egan

Lansing Bureau Chief, Detroit Free Press 

Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press reporter in the studio in Detroit on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018.

Now scroll down for more top-notch subscriber-only stories you may have missed this week.