Jack Bergman

ALPENA — Jack Bergman, U.S. Congressman for Northern Michigan will run unopposed during the primary election after the Michigan Bureau of Elections determined Josh Saul and JD Wilson, who were challenging for the House seat, had insufficient signatures on their petitions.

The Bureau of Elections’s report serves as a recommendation to the Board of State Canvassers which is set to meet Friday and will make the final determination who will appear on the ballot.

The incumbent Bergman, R-Watersmeet, will now be the only Republican on the primary ballot for the 1st Congressional District in Michigan.

Being the lone Republican in the race for the House seat during the August election ensures Bergman faces off with either Callie Barr or Dr. Bob Lorinser in November’s general election.

For Saul, all of his 1,221 signatures were considered invalid because each of the petition sheets stated the title of the office as House of Representatives, and the district line as 1st, which isn’t defined enough.

“However, this information is ambiguous in the context of this election because there are two offices on the ballot for the 1st district House of Representatives: one in the Michigan Legislature, Michigan House of Representatives and one in the United States Congress, U.S. House of Representatives,” stated the report.

Saul said he plans to attend the State Board of Canvassers meeting on Friday to plead his case and try to get the board to allow him on the ballot. He said if he is unable to, other legal action may be needed.

“I’ll be representing myself Friday, but we already have obtained legal counsel and are ready to file a lawsuit,” Saul said. “We are quite confident we will be successful because there is legal precedent to get them to overturn the opinion and recommendation.”

In Wilson’s case, he also had all of his 1,240 signatures invalidated for not using petition forms that meet state election law requirements including improper formatting and language errors.

Saul and Wilson were among eight congressional candidates in Michigan that the bureau determined had petitions that didn’t comply with state election law.

The Republican Party in Northern Michigan, and especially Northeast Michigan, has been divided for some time. Some Republicans have set their sites on ousting Bergman and went as far as trying to recall State Representative for Northeast Michigan Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan.

There weren’t enough signatures collected to proceed with the recall against Cavitt. The recall against Cavitt was started because he voted for current House Speaker Joe Tate, who is a Democrat, during a procedural vote.

Bergman’s Communication Director James Hogge said just like the effort to recall Cavitt failed miserably, so did the effort to defeat Bergman at the ballot box.

Still, Hogge said, he hopes Saul and Wilson will join forces with Bergman to help get more Republicans elected and sent to Lansing and Washington DC.

“From the failed recall petition drive against State Rep. Cavitt to the failed attempt to primary General Bergman, this small but vocal group took yet another loss this week by failing to pay attention to the guidelines required for nominating petitions,” Hogge said. “We are grateful for the strong support from the Bergman Brigade to get the General on the ballot and look forward to putting this saga behind us and welcoming Josh and JD to join our work to help defeat the radical leftists running for office in Michigan.”

The primary election is on August 6.