Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson launched his campaign as a Democratic candidate for Michigan governor last week, but his announcement wasn’t without its hiccups, in this case a fabricated endorsement and made-up quote.

Swanson officially entered the race last Thursday at an event at Mott Community College in Flint. Among the political endorsements his campaign boasted were several local prominent Democratic politicians and former politicians. Among them were former Michigan Lieutenant Gov. and current state Sen. John Cherry and former Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich.

A news released from Swanson’s own campaign quoted Ananich: “Sheriff Swanson has been a lifelong fighter, always standing up for the little man,” said Former State Senator Jim Ananich. “He has created groundbreaking programs like I.G.N.I.T.E. to reduce recidivism and keep our community safe, keeping our crime rates low and offering a second chance so people can rebuild their lives.”

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However, Gongwer reporter Lily Catherine Guiney noted on her X feed on Wednesday that Ananich has not endorsed Swanson, nor did he utter the words Swanson’s campaign attributes to him.

Guiney posted: “Gubernatorial inbox bit: former Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich was announced as having endorsed Sheriff Chris Swanson in the Dem primary today. Ananich just told me that he did not, in fact, intend to endorse Swanson or any other primary candidate & the release was an error.”

Swanson’s campaign has not commented on the matter, but the Democratic Sheriff isn’t alone when it comes to botched gubernatorial campaign announcements. His Democrat competitor, current Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, also stumbled in her haste to launch her campaign to replace Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who will be term-limited out of office after 2026.

Benson’s announcement was bungled from the start. On Jan. 22, her campaign mistakenly announced her candidacy on X, but removed it minutes later.

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“Secretary of State Benson appears to have accidentally announced a run for Governor on Twitter,” the Michigan Information and Research Services news organization posted to X. “The post was taken down moments after posting.”

The post also included a dead link to the Democratic candidate donation page ActBlue.

Bridge Michigan reporter Simon Schuster noted the linked page did not work.

“Inadvertently announcing your gubernatorial campaign with a premature social media post? A significant SNAFU, sure,” Bridge reporter Simon Schuster posted to X. “But then blocking the 5,000 (max) terminally online state political obsessives that’ll catch this from donating? Not sure what that helps.”

Another SNAFU of Benson’s candidacy was an X endorsement from Star Trek actor and liberal activist George Takei in which he mistakenly threw his celebrity cache behind Benson’s bid for Governor of Minnesota.

Late last month, Republican activist Christian Charette filed a campaign finance complaint against Benson.

“Today, I filed a campaign finance complaint against @JocelynBenson for utilizing public resources during her Gubernatorial campaign announcement, and for abusing the office of Secretary of State to collect information that would later inform her run,” Charette posted to X.

“In an interview with WILX … Benson has admitted to using her office over the last several weeks and months to conduct ‘Community Conversations’ across the state, which helped her inform herself of the issues (to eventually run for Governor),” it continued.

“Also in this interview, when asked about why the press conference was inside (reporters mentioning that candidates have routinely been barred from filming their announcements inside publicly owned buildings and instead had to film on the steps of the entrance) she nervously laughed and stated ‘it’s cold.’”