OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Republican businessman Perry Johnson has announced his long-awaited bid for the presidency.
Johnson, who tried to run for governor of Michigan last year but submitted thousands of fraudulent signatures according to the state’s election bureau, announced his candidacy for the White House Thursday evening to a group of supporters, his campaign said. Hours earlier, he had spoken at the opening day of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference just outside Washington, DC
Johnson did not directly mention his presidential campaign when speaking at the CPAC meeting in Oxon Hill, Maryland, where a handful of other candidates and potential contenders, including former President Donald Trump, will speak Friday and Saturday.
Johnson spent money earlier this year to run an ad during the Super Bowl aimed at voters in Iowa, the first state to vote on the GOP presidential field, praising his plan to cut federal spending by 2 each year. % to lower.
The businessman made a fortune with Michigan-based Perry Johnson Registrars Inc., which certifies whether companies meet industry standards. He did not get on the ballot for the GOP primary for Michigan governor after election officials said he failed to submit enough valid signatures.
State Elections Office officials said Johnson submitted 13,800 valid signatures, but they discarded 9,393, including 6,983 that they said were fraudulent. Johnson, who was willing to spend millions of dollars campaigning for the governor’s office, said his rights were violated at the trial.
