House candidate petitions rule invalid by state

The nominating petitions for one of the Republicans who filed for the U.S. House 11^th District, which includes Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham, were denied as invalid last week by election officials.

Republican Tony Prieto of Farmington had turned in petitions by the filing deadline of Tuesday, April 21, but at the end of last week election officials said he failed to submit the minimum number of signatures to make the August 4 ballot.

With Prieto out of the race, only the name of one Republican, Ethan Baker of Troy, will appear on the August primary ballot and he will automatically advance to the November election in a district that includes most of Oakland County. 

The House district is currently held by Democrat Haley Stevens who is seeking the office of U.S. Senator from Michigan.

The issue of Prieto petitions was first raised by Democrat Don Ufford who is seeking to win the Democrat nomination in the August primary. In a letter last week to Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown, Ufford said his campaign had reviewed the petitions submitted by Prieto and had determined that the Republican had failed to turn in the required 1,000 signatures on petitions.

Ufford, of Birmingham, is facing Stu Baker, Pontiac; Alsha Farooqi, Troy; Jeremy Moss, Bloomfield Township; Michelle Mary Murphy, Keego Harbor; and John Paul Torres, Waterford; in the primary election.