Southwest Detroit council member "confident" unpaid fee won't harm ballot access
An issue with District 6 council member Gabriela-Santiago Romero's campaign committee may prevent her from qualifying for the ballot ahead of the upcoming election.
A senior elections official says Detroit City Council member Gabriela Santiago-Romero’s ballot access has been denied, but the councilwoman claims the issue causing her disqualification was already resolved.
Santiago-Romero, running to be reelected in District 6, allegedly failed to pay fees associated with her campaign committee, chief operating officer of the city’s election department, Daniel Baxter, told me on Monday.
“Unfortunately, some candidates only discover they have outstanding obligations when their names are denied placement on the ballot,” Baxter said.
Santiago-Romero will need intervention from the 3rd Circuit Court for her name to appear on the ballot.
The filing deadline for candidates is Tuesday, April 22.
Santiago-Romero didn’t respond to my initial request for comment ahead of breaking the news on social media, but she did respond to Malachi Barrett immediately afterward.
“This is not my fault ultimately,” Santiago-Romero told Barrett, adding that the issues over an unpaid campaign finance fee were resolved last year, but the city wasn't notified.
She said she’s confident it will be fixed, Barrett reports.
She told Barrett there was an amended filing the county flagged as being late that was already resolved, but the county didn’t notify the city’s department of elections. She said the county will need to send a letter to the city to verify the issue was previously resolved.
Amirah Jackson-Barrett, the county’s manager of campaign finance declined to comment on the record, referring to the clerk’s communications director, Dorian Tyus.
Tyus did not respond to a call and message left to his phone.
Voters will elect a new mayor to replace Mayor Mike Duggan, city clerk, city council, board of police commissioners, and community advisory council on Nov. 4.
The primary election is set for Aug. 5.
Failure to make the ballot would have major implications for Detroit City Council.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Detroit one million to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.