JACKSON, Mich. — Former Jackson mayoral candidate John Wilson is suing City Clerk Andrea Muray and Assistant City Manager Shane LaPorte over campaign signs.
Wilson lost to Daniel Mahoney in a tight race in the 2021 election. The lawsuit alleges that signs promoting Mahoney for mayor were too close to polling locations.
Election law states campaign signs and materials cannot be placed within 100 feet of polling locations.
In the complaint, Wilson says he spoke directly with Muray on the phone to report the sign placement, but nothing was done. He also says he spoke with LaPorte through text to report sign placement violations.
Wilson is seeking $200,000 in damages.
The city of Jackson released a statement saying, “while the city will make its specific legal arguments in the courtroom, it is fully confident that Mr. Wilson’s latest ill-advised election lawsuit against two of its public officials will suffer precisely the same fate as his last one.”
Wilson previously sued WLNS for publishing a story that said he lost the Jackson mayoral race before polls closed on Election Day. That lawsuit has since been settled. He also sued the city of Jackson over election sign placement issues, but that lawsuit was dismissed in April.
Wilson said, even though he disagrees with the previous ruling, he felt like naming the defendant as the city of Jackson instead of individuals allowed the city’s lawyers to request a summary disposition for dismissal.
“Both Muray and LaPorte failed in their official public duties to provide for the purity of elections and to guard against the abuse of the elective franchise and to provide proper oversight to the city’s local sign ordinance,” Wilson said.
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