LANSING, Mich. — Former Detroit police chief James Craig visited Hillsdale on Wednesday. The candidate for governor received the endorsement of Hillsdale Mayor
Adam Stockford and met with community leaders.
“It's no secret Hillsdale is a substantially conservative enclave," said Craig, a former Detroit police chief. "That's very important, and, when the mayor reached out and said he wanted to endorse me, I was humbled by that.”
Criag’s visit came the day after a political action committee tied to Tudor Dixon, a rival GOP candidate for governor, challenged his petition signatures. The committee challenged about 7,000 of the 21,735 signatures Craig submitted.
"You know, it's disappointing, of course," he said. "It came from another camp that's not doing very well in the polling. I'm interested as the process moves forward to see what, if anything it found."
If the Board of State Canvassers upholds the challenge, Craig’s name will not be included on the ballot for the Aug. 2 primary.
Experts say a major component of this governor's race will be an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. Craig said his team has been in contact with Trump in recent months, and though there's no word on whether he will receive the endorsement Craig remains hopeful.
"I'm going to say was three months ago I actually had a face to face meeting with President Trump. No commitment, of course. I welcome his endorsement. I think his endorsement is important," Craig said.
Stockford says he invited Craig to Hillsdale because he felt that Craig's conservative message would be well received.
"Hillsdale is very much a center of conservative politics in Michigan and becoming very much the center of conservative politics in the United States," Stockford said. "We really feel like chief's message would resonate well here, and he'd get a good reception and he'd also have the opportunity to learn something along the way."
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