Detroit Councilwoman Santiago-Romero to appear on ballot after disqualification rescinded
Detroit City Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who is seeking reelection, will be placed on the ballot after her disqualification was rescinded, she announced on Friday.
The decision was made pending a mutually agreed upon court order with her campaign and the Detroit City Clerks Office. The order is expected to be signed on Tuesday, the councilwoman said.
Watch our previous report when Gabriela Santiago-Romero was suing the city below: Santiago-Romero suing Detroit city clerk after filing discrepancy keeps her off ballotSantiago-Romero, who represents District 6, and her team filed a lawsuit after Detroit's city clerk said she was disqualified due to a campaign filing discrepancy with the Wayne County Clerks Office. That discrepancy, which stemmed from a supposed late fee, caused Detroits city clerk to disqualify Santiago-Romero from the primary.
The election is on Aug. 5.
Santiago-Romero addressed a crowd of supporters last week in southwest Detroit after the lawsuit was filed.
The reason being a fee that was owed stemming back to last October. Were contending the fee should have never been owed," Widmaier told 7 News Detroit last week.
We submitted a report on October 25th. We have confirmation right here if anyone would like to see it. This is from Wayne County confirming they got the report. Theyre now contending the first time we filed the report was on November 8th, which is incorrect."
Widmaier said Santiago-Romero had called, emailed and went to the county clerks office with no resolve. So, her team filed a lawsuit against the city clerk to get back on the ballot.

We have our receipts. We have documentation thankfully, but thats what happened. Theres missing information from the county side, and were just hoping that they except our receipts, Santiago-Romero told 7 News Detroit last week.
If Santiago-Romero had lost the lawsuit, she would have had to run as a write-in candidate, which she said she was prepared to do.
Before the decision to keep Santiago-Romero on the ballot, the Wayne County Clerks Office waived her $250 fee for good cause.
Im relieved that the facts have been cleared up, and Im qualified to be on the ballot, Santiago-Romero said in a statement. Last week was truly a nightmare, and the hardest week Ive ever had as a candidate. What kept me hopeful was the outpouring of support I received daily from our community this fight was never about me, it was about
us. I look forward to continuing to campaign to represent our district, and Im grateful to both the Detroit City Clerk and the Wayne County Clerk for working with me to rectify this error.
Santiago-Romeros campaign said she turned in over 600 petition signatures and was certified.
Santiago-Romero and her campaign said the court decision is a significant victory.
I knew how strong this community was already, and last week only reinforced to me that when we stand together, theres nothing we cannot overcome, Santiago-Romero said.
She is running for her second term in District 6. Her campaign said she won the seat with 74% of the vote in 2021.
To learn more about Santiago-Romero, visit her campaign website.