Detroit councilmember kicked off 2025 ballot sues city clerk to be reinstated
Detroit City Councilwoman sues over clerical error that took her off the ballot
She was disqualified according to the clerk’s office for not paying a $250 fee for filing late — however Gabriela Santiago-Romero has an email showing she wasn't late at all.
(FOX 2) - Gabriela Santiago-Romero, the District 6 council member in Detroit, is contesting her disqualification from the 2025 primary ballot by the Detroit City Clerk.
She argues the clerk's office disqualified her over a clerical error tied to a $250 late fee for a campaign finance violation.
Big picture view:
Santiago-Romero's campaign is suing the Detroit City Clerk's Office and Janice Winfrey, filing in the third circuit court on Thursday demanding to be reinstated on the August 2025 Primary ballot.
While it's the city clerk that disqualified the member of council, Detroit gets its guidance from the Wayne County Clerk, which argues Santiago-Romero failed to pay a $250 fine after she allegedly didn't submit campaign receipts by the deadline.
But according to Santiago-Romero, they did submit the filing on time, placing blame on the county.
Despite attempts to fix the problem, the councilwoman's campaign says the Wayne County Clerk's Office has not responded to emails or phone calls.
"Rather than addressing this clerical error, the county has refused and we're forced to file a lawsuit," said Santiago-Romero during a Friday press conference.
The backstory:
"I’m currently living a candidate’s worst nightmare," she said. "I’m here to say my report was filed on time and we owe no late fee. We submitted our campaign finance report on October 25, 2024, and we have receipts from the county clerk to prove it."
Wednesday was the deadline for all political candidates for office in Detroit to file to run. That included nine people running for mayor and dozens for city council.
Santiago-Romero, who has served District 6 since her first election 2021, told reporters on Friday she felt confident the issue would be resolved.
"When I received my disqualification notice on Monday, I was anxious and scared. On Tuesday I was hopeful. By Wednesday I was confident that we had the facts on our side. And by Thursday, I was mad and focused," she said.
The councilwoman added she wasn't aware of the fee because no notice alerting her campaign was sent out, despite the county being required to email and mail correspondence, according to Santiago-Romero's attorney.
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The picture of who will run for Detroit mayor and city council became a little more clearer on Tuesday.
What they're saying:
"What usually happens when you don't file and what's supposed to happen by law, you're supposed to get certified mail from the county. We never got the certified mail," said Charlie Widmaier.
"These small mistakes are very common to a campaign. Whenever this happens, you get an email. When we've had to amend in the last four years, we've always gotten an email. We didn't get an email in this case," he added.
What's next:
Santiago-Romero says she is confident they will prevail in court.
However, if all else fails, she said she will push forward with a "people's campaign" via write-in.
The Source: Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero