MI-GOV: Duggan (I) protests signature threshold for independents -- but it's lower for him than party candidates

[RandySF]

Independent gubernatorial candidate and former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan posted a video to X saying that, as an independent candidate, he would need to collect 30,000 signatures on a candidate petition in order to make the ballot for the November general election.

“This can’t be legal!” Duggan posted on Friday afternoon, saying that it takes twice as many signatures for an independent candidate to make the ballot than for a candidate who is a member of a party “because they wrote the rules.”

But Michigan Department of State guidance says otherwise — a petition manual for “Candidates Without Political Party Affiliation,” released in February 2026, states that a gubernatorial candidate must submit a minimum of 12,000 signatures, with a maximum of 60,000.

That’s less than it takes for a member of a party to make the August primary ballot, which requires a minimum of 15,000 signatures and allows for a maximum of 30,000 signatures.



https://michiganadvance.com/2026/05/08/duggan-protests-signature-threshold-for-independents-but-its-lower-for-him-than-party-candidates/