LANSING — The secretive effort to create a formal Tea Party political party in Michigan ended Friday with a death sentence from the Michigan Supreme Court.
In a 5-2 ruling, the court upheld an appellate court decision to bar the Tea Party and its slate of 23 candidates from the November ballot because of a technical problem with petitions the party circulated.
Activists in the tea party movement who believed the Tea Party political party was a fraud by some Democrats to dilute the influence of conservative voters in this fall’s election were relieved by the ruling.
State Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer has denied any involvement by his organization in the Tea Party effort. Still, ties between the wannabe party and Democratic officials and sympathizers were documented by the Free Press in a report Friday. Most damaging were revelations — now the subject of a criminal probe — about possible forged signatures on candidate affidavits notarized by a former Oakland County party official.
Full Story: Court ends Tea Party’s hopes for Nov. ballot | freep.com | Detroit Free Press