DETROIT – Longtime Rep. John Conyers will find out Friday if his legal Hail Mary to get on the primary ballot worked.
Local 4 has also learned about another political hopeful who has officially been tossed from the ballot.
She was running for Wayne County Circuit Court judge but Thursday night, Delicia Taylor Coleman has been thrown off the ballot by unanimous decision after a hearing because of forged signatures, improper petitions, invalid signatures and other charges.
Conyers will find out Friday if his petitions, which are also a total mess, can be salvaged by a legal challenge in federal court.
"This is really a lesson to every member of congress in this state that you can't just let your fate be left up to some charlatan who's out passing out petitions," said political consultant Joseph Munem.
Conyers' challenge, which is joined by the American Civil Liberties Union, essentially says a law on the books in Michigan since the 1960s, which requires that those circulating petitions be registered voters, is unconstitutional.
The attorney general and secretary of state called that a bunch of hooey. Conyers' chances of success Friday?
"There's probably about a 60-40 chance that he's knocked off the ballot, but you know 40 percent is still a pretty substantial margin for getting put back on," said Munem.
One thing the Conyers campaign has made clear since the fiasco was uncovered is even if he's off the ballot, Conyers isn't going to go away.