Hollier off ballot? So much for Black representation for Detroit in Congress. | Opinion

Adam Hollier’s worst political nightmare came true Thursday afternoon, when a report by the Wayne County Clerk’s election staff determined that he had not filed enough valid signatures to earn a spot on the August primary ballot for the 13th Congressional seat.

Hollier lost to U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar in 2022 in a nine-way race. While his eight opponents split the Black vote, Thanedar won with 28% of ballots cast. (Because the district is so strongly Democratic, this race is decided in the August party primary.)

This time around, the field was essentially cleared for Hollier. His campaign, which has emphasized the importance of Black representation, secured endorsements from prominent Democrats and faith leaders in Detroit.

But if Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett follows her staff’s recommendation — as she is sure to do ― and kicks Hollier off the ballot, he will have not only hurt himself, but the prospect of Black political leadership for Detroit in Congress.

More from Freep Opinion: Campaign forged Free Press reporter's signature

137 signatures short

Candidates must gather voter signatures on nominating petitions before the April filing deadline. Thanedar sought to disqualify Hollier from the race, alleging his challenger submitted fraudulent and invalid voter signatures (Hollier has acknowledged that some signatures, collected by an outside contractor, appear to have been forged) falling short of the 1,000 required to secure a spot on the ballot.

Garrett’s staff agreed, putting her again in the middle of a political election storm.

State law gives Garrett two days after the staff report is released to make her decision. She has always carried out her duties, despite where her political allegiance may land. (She has not endorsed any candidate in the 13th Congressional District race).

Now, Hollier is likely to be off the ballot by a mere 137 signatures, according to the staff report.

That many signatures could be collected outside a grocery store in about an hour.

From M.L. Elrick: Meet the man in the middle of the petition fiasco threatening multiple political careers

'My, my, my'

After Garrett makes her decision, Hollier could appeal to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson or Wayne County Circuit Court, but any other outcome than the one recommended by the clerk’s staff appears to be unlikely.

So is the prospect of a write-in campaign, similar to what Mike Duggan pulled off in 2013 to stay on the mayoral ballot.

“I had a whole panic attack, laying on the floor like, 'Oh my gosh ... I've spent my whole life getting to this moment, doing the right thing consistently ... and I took my eye off the ball for one second. I trusted one person to do a thing and to check it and they said it was done, and I didn't look at it. And it's going to cost me everything,'” Hollier told the Free Press editorial board last week, describing his discovery of the apparent forgeries.

In full disclosure, I like Hollier as a person. We go back to his time as the council liaison under then-Mayor Dave Bing. He’s a personable, Ivy League-educated man.

That’s what has me a bit peeved: Hollier had a legitimate shot at challenging Thanedar. He’s served in the state Legislature and was named the Director of Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after his unsuccessful 2022 run.

But this latest snafu now, presumably, makes Hollier a two-time loser running for Congress. A third attempt would him in the political lore of Sharon McPhail and Tom Barrow, perennial also rans.

“Adam represented, in some ways, the best chance that folks could see, because the Black body politic largely was seen behind him,” says political expert Greg Bowens. “When you have the Congressional Black Caucus coming out and saying, ‘Hey, we support the challenger as opposed to the incumbent,’ that's a big deal.

“So when you have Black folks in politics, leaders in politics who are making an organized effort to give one Black candidate a lot of support early on, and have a mistake like this happen is embarrassing in a lot of ways.”

The fumble by Hollier could leave the district’s hopes for Black representation on Mary Waters. Waters has served on the Detroit City Council since 2021. She served in the state House from 2001 until 2006.

But Waters is a long shot, at best. Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show she’s raised less than $10,000, hardly enough money to defeat Thanedar.

Let me say it to the people in the back: Barring a court judgment that overturns this ruling, our Black political hopes are now pinned on a candidate who has raised less than $10,000.

By comparison, Thanedar has already raised $5.1 million.

All I can hear is JoAnn Watson’s voice right now, saying: “My, my, my.”

A Hail Mary

Thanedar deserved a formidable opponent in August who could challenge him on his record in Congress.

Bowens is optimistic that Hollier can still campaign while the process is ongoing, which gives him “the opportunity to raise serious questions about Congressman Thanedar's record ... (but forgeries) undermine the ability to be able to be seen as a serious contender. This is like the elephant in the room.”

I’m not as hopeful as Bowens, knowing it’s a Hail Mary on Fourth Down and 26.

But what’s even more troubling in this scenario is that Hollier pinned his political hopes on someone he paid, instead of grinding and collecting a majority of signatures himself. Instead, he hired a company to do his work. He didn’t even personally review all of the petitions, he acknowledged to the Free Press Editorial Board, before turning them in. Hiring out the work cost him thousands of dollars and a chance to reclaim Black representation in a city that’s 77% African American.

Do the work

I get it. Candidates don’t want to stand outside in February, March or until the filing deadline in April. I don’t either, but I’m not running for office.

From my vantage point, not only are you fulfilling your duty as a candidate, but you miss out on potential voters by having a face-to-face interaction with them. That’s a part of your ground game, if you want to win in August, and it starts when you start gathering signatures.

Now, Hollier looks like the child who cheated on his test and got caught – and didn’t learn from the mistakes by former Detroit Police Chief James Craig in 2022 or the snafu by then Congressman John Conyers in 2014.

Both used outside contractors to get petitions signed. A part of winning is learning from past losses.

“Verifying signatures is never a one-person job. It's always the responsibility of the campaign team, and the buck stops with the candidate,” Bowens adds. “The thing that vexes me when I see candidates faced with challenges and they don't take ownership of that, but instead throw the team member or the person that's working for them under the bus, that is a bad, bad thing. Loyalty is a gold standard in politics.”

I will continue to beat this drum. I don’t care whether it’s Jewel Jones in Inkster, Monique Owens in Eastpointe or Hollier: Black political leadership needs to get its stuff together.

Our leadership matters. But the heft of what it means to lead needs to be taken seriously. The consequences are too dire.

It starts with taking care of the small things, the details.

“How a candidate manages a campaign is an indicator of how he or she will manage their office and govern,” Bowes says. “Something like this is sort of equivalent to turning in a piece of legislation and having incorrect information on it.”

Hollier’s foibles are just the latest, but, we hope, the last with signatures.

Thanedar's next challenger will have until 2026 to figure that out.

Darren A. Nichols is a contributing columnist at the Free Press. He can be reached at darren@dnick-media.com or his X (formerly Twitter) handle @dnick12. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hollier off ballot? It's Thanedar-Waters in Detroit's 13th District.