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A longtime Wayne County commissioner is back on the August primary ballot after a judge ruled his campaign did not violate state campaign finance laws.
Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett removed Commissioner Tim Killeen, D-Detroit, earlier this month after determining overdue campaign finance reports from nearly 10 years ago made him ineligible. Michigan law requires candidates be current on all campaign finance statements, fines and other filings when applying to run for office.
At issue was the reporting of donations made by two limited liability companies to Killeen’s campaign in 2013.
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny ruled Tuesday that the information Killeen’s committee reported to the county complied with the law and that it was the responsibility of the two companies to form a committee and report that information to the Michigan Secretary of State.
“The court believes that he does have that clear legal right to be placed on the ballot,” Kenny said.
The primary is Aug. 2.
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Killeen, who has been a Wayne County commissioner since 2007, said Tuesday that the decision will be made at the ballot box “as it should be.”
“This is a matter for the voters now,” Killeen said. “Let’s have a campaign.”
Killeen’s removal would have left former state Rep. Brian Banks as the lone choice for voters in the Democratic primary for the commission spot representing the county’s District 1. It includes parts of Detroit’s east side, Harper Woods and the Grosse Pointes.
Banks, of Grosse Pointe, stepped down from the state Legislature in 2017 after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of falsifying documents to obtain a $3,000 loan from a metro Detroit credit union. Banks, who was first elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2012, has a criminal history with eight felony convictions for a series of financial crimes, including for credit card fraud and writing bad checks between 1998 and 2004.
Banks did not immediately return a call for comment on Kenny’s decision Tuesday.
Grosse Pointe Woods’ John Barry Anderson is running unopposed in the Republican primary for the commission seat.
Contact Christine MacDonald: cmacdonald@freepress.com or at 313-418-2149.
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