Former state Sen. Adam Hollier, who is running to unseat U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, admits that his congressional campaign “likely” submitted some fraudulent petition signatures.
First-term Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar, of Detroit, issued a formal challenge to Hollier’s petitions last week, saying his fellow Democrat should be booted from the ballot.
The challenge comes nearly two years after five Republican gubernatorial candidates were knocked off the ballot because of forged signatures. Those candidates said they were duped by fraudulent circulators, who were charged by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in June 2023.
In response to Thanedar’s challenge, attorneys for Hollier said the campaign reviewed the petitions and uncovered what appeared to be forged signatures by a paid circulator, Londell Thomas of Harper Woods. Hollier’s campaign said it will be reporting the suspected signature fraud to the Wayne County prosecutor.
But Hollier’s attorneys, W. Alan Wilk and Melvin “Butch” Hollowell, contend that a vast majority of the signatures are valid and are sufficient to secure his spot on the ballot.
“Whatever conduct Mr. Thomas may have engaged in outside the bounds of his authority, it is also that he appears to have gathered valid petition signatures,” Hollier’s attorneys wrote. “These signers are actual Americans expressing their constitutional rights which should not be taken from them as Mr. Thanedar requests.”
The lawyers also slammed Thanedar by suggesting he’s trying to usurp the will of voters.
“At its core, Mr. Thanedar’s challenge is a thinly disguised attempt at voter suppression to prevent the voters from casting their ballot for the candidates of their choosing,” the attorneys wrote in response to the challenge.
Reached by Metro Times on Tuesday, Thanedar countered that Hollier failed to collect enough signatures to appear on the ballot, contending 228 were from voters outside the district, 338 were not registered voters, 90 were duplicated, and 82 were fraudulent.
Thanedar, a millionaire entrepreneur, said he respects the voters’ will and “decided to challenge to ensure that the integrity of the election process is maintained.”
“If this is the kind of operation Adam is running for his campaign, there’s no way he could effectively represent the congressional district,” Thanedar said in a written statement.
Thanedar said Hollier’s campaign, in its challenge, failed to address the signatures from out-of-district voters, the duplicate signatures, and the claims that unregistered voters signed the petitions.
“There is no hint of a revised tally showing they really qualified,” Thanedar wrote.
In August 2022, Thanedar defeated Hollier in the Democratic primary election, 28% to 24%. In that race, a pro-Israel political action committee spent more than $2.7 million on ads in support of Hollier, a moderate Democrat. The United Democracy Project, a hawkish, pro-Israel PAC funded by GOP mega donors and moderate Democrats, also spent $1.4 million attacking Thanedar, baselessly suggesting he was a secret Republican.
In his first term, Thanedar has warmed up to Israeli causes and condemned fellow Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for her response to Hamas’s attack on Israeli civilians.
Thanedar insists Hollier’s signature problems demonstrate that he is not prepared to represent a district that is in desperate need of congressional help.
“Representing the 13th Congressional District in the United States Congress is a big responsibility,” Thanedar said. “It is a district that suffered disproportionately during the COVID epidemic; it has 26% of its people living in poverty, the lowest average per capita income, a lack of economic opportunities, a lack of quality education, and one of the worst public transportation systems. For these reasons, Detroit needs competent representation."
