GOP hopeful faces ballot challenge in suburban Detroit US House race

U.S. House hopeful Robert Lulgjuraj is facing two separate challenges over his ballot eligibility in a contested Republican primary for a suburban Detroit swing district.

The complaints, filed by GOP primary opponent Justin Kirk and by a political action committee supporting fellow GOP candidate Michael Bouchard, allege that Lulgjuraj misstated his residency on official filings and did not submit enough valid nominating petition signatures to appear on the upcoming ballot.

Both could jeopardize his candidacy.

The efforts to disqualify Lulgjuraj — if successful — would reshape the GOP nomination fight in a U.S. House race that could be among this year's tightest nationally. Republican U.S. Rep. John James holds the seat for now, but the Shelby Township lawmaker opted to run for governor of Michigan instead of seeking reelection to his current post.

Lulgjuraj (pronounced LOO-JER-EYE), a former Macomb County assistant prosecuting attorney, refuted the allegations on Wednesday and projected confidence that a state review will clear him for the Aug. 4 primary in the 10th District, which covers southern Macomb County, and Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County.

"I just want to make it clear: I live in Sterling Heights," he said in a phone interview.

Lulgjuraj added: "And we're going to meet the 1,000 signature requirement ... I'm always gonna be transparent. That's the type of congressperson that I want to be, and I think that's what Macomb County deserves."

The attorney listed a Sterling Heights address as his place of residence on an official Affidavit of Identity filing for his campaign, but the complaints against him show — and The Detroit News confirmed — that he currently holds a principal residency exemption in Troy.

That tax break significantly reduces property tax rates and is reserved for an individual's primary residence. It is the same type of tax break that Trump ally and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte questioned Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over last year.

Lulgjuraj's opponents pointed out that lying about his Sterling Heights residence in campaign documents would invalidate his candidacy, while living away from his Troy property would violate tax laws.

Troy is also located outside the 10th District in Oakland County, though there is no legal issue associated with residing outside the district boundaries. Federal law allows candidates to run in districts they do not live in.

The competition for James' seat has grown fiercer on the Republican side in recent months, and Lulgjuraj's opponents were sharp in criticizing his alleged missteps.

"The lack of respect for the rules and law by a congressional candidate who is also a licensed attorney is shocking,” Kirk, a Clinton Township attorney, said in a statement. “After seeing the evidence of potential fraud, I felt it necessary to hold Mr. Lulgjuraj to account. The voters of Michigan’s 10th Congressional District deserve candidates willing not only to make laws, but to obey them as well.”

Jason McBride, a spokesperson for the pro-Bouchard group Honor, Duty & Discipline PAC, struck a similar tone.

"The voters in the 10th Congressional District are tired of politicians like Robert Lulgjuraj being dishonest with them. They deserve a candidate who isn't going to try and pull a fast one on them. Lulgjuraj has shown he's willing to lie to everyone to get into office. Voters deserve better," he said.

Kirk and the pro-Bouchard PAC submitted their complaints to the bipartisan Michigan Board of State Canvassers, which will weigh the claims, conduct its own evaluation and issue a judgment by June 2 — nine weeks before the upcoming primary.

Both complaints point out Lulgjuraj's active principal residence exemption in Troy. The tax break, also called a homestead exemption, shields homeowners from local school operating taxes so long as they use the home in question as their principal residence.

The complaints suggest that Lulgjuraj cannot legally claim the exemption if, as stated in official filings, he lives in Sterling Heights. The city assessor's office for Troy confirmed on Tuesday that Lulgjuraj's homestead exemption remains active.

The pro-Bouchard group said in its complaint that one of two things must be true: Either Lulgjuraj is "falsely claiming" he lives in Sterling Heights and should therefore be thrown off the ballot, or he has "fraudulently" benefited from a tax break since moving away from his property in Troy.

"This discrepancy is concerning," McBride wrote.

Lulgjuraj explained the situation on Wednesday while his campaign lawyers worked on a formal response, which was submitted later in the day.

"My dad, he went through a divorce in August of 2021. He was between jobs, needed a place to live, and he couldn't financially qualify for a mortgage at the time," Lulgjuraj told The Detroit News.

Lulgjuraj added that he bought the home, lived there with his father "until he got back up on his feet," and moved back to Sterling Heights in December 2024.

The candidate said he now lives in his childhood home with his two uncles and 92-year-old grandmother, whom he helps care for.

"I don't apologize for helping my family. I'm glad I did it. I'd do it again tomorrow. I'd frankly do anything for my family," he said.

Lulgjuraj also noted that he officially switched his voter registration from Troy to Sterling Heights on Dec. 7, 2024.

Commenting on the tax status of his Troy property, Lulgjuraj said he is "not a CPA, not an accountant" and will pay any back taxes owed as needed.

"Whatever is owed or not owed, whatever has to be changed or doesn't have to be changed, I'll just rely on a CPA and our legal team to take care of that," he said. "I will comply and file that appropriately or pay whatever's owed."

Lulgjuraj said that his father still lives in the Troy home, and he does not rent it out as an investment property.

Justin Kirk also alleged in his complaint against Lulgjuraj that he did not submit 1,000 valid signatures to the Michigan Secretary of State's office by the April 21 deadline. Signature issues have repeatedly doomed campaigns in Michigan, including in 2022, when five gubernatorial candidates were disqualified.

Kirk suggested, in a copy of the complaint obtained by The News, that Lulgjuraj's nominating petition is "deficient on multiple grounds" and specifically noted 752 of the 1,682 signatures submitted.

The complaint pointed out, among other alleged reasons for invalidation, that some signatures belonged to individuals not registered to vote in the 10th District, some were duplicates and more than 250 were forgeries from a petition circulator working for the Lulgjuraj campaign.

Lulgjuraj acknowledged that concern and said that the petition circulator was a young woman volunteering on his campaign. He said that even if the signatures she collected need to be thrown out, "we still have enough to get on the ballot."

An official response to the complaint from campaign lawyers stated: "The campaign is in the process of collecting aﬃdavits from the individual electors (signers) of the nominating petitions circulated by a volunteer, non-paid circulator, ... averring to the validity of their signatures.

"Many of the electors to which the challenger seeks to disenfranchise are members of the Albanian American community living in the 10th Congressional District, to whom English is a second language at best.

"Given the number of nominating petitions and elector signatures that challenger seeks to invalidate as a whole from (the volunteer's) circulated petitions ... and the expeditious time-frame for this response, the campaign expects to make a supplementary production of supporting aﬃdavits."

Lulgjuraj has said repeatedly throughout his campaign that he is the only authentic Macomb County candidate in the GOP primary and, after refuting the complaints against him, lobbed his own criticisms at opponents.

"We're the only ones that are from this place. We're the only ones that truly live here," he said. "Outside of going to college for four years in Indiana, I've been here my entire life."

The Lulgjuraj campaign also pointed out that Kirk has not yet filed a disclosure to the U.S. House Ethics Committee, a requirement for congressional candidates.

Lulgjuraj added: "I've never practiced law in Florida," an apparent reference to Kirk. "And Bouchard's dad has been running his campaign two years before he even came back (from military service overseas)," an apparent reference to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard playing an active role in promoting his son's candidacy.

Kirk had previously questioned Lulgjuraj's Macomb County bona fides in filing his complaint to the Board of Canvassers.

"If Mr. Lulgjuraj wants to run for office so badly, perhaps he should have run in the City of Troy where he claims to live. I hope to bring the Macomb County values of honesty and integrity to this race for Congress,” he said in a statement.

The Bouchard campaign also questioned Lulgjuraj's integrity in commenting on the complaints.

"It’s clear Robert Lulgjuraj lied about his residence and he lives outside the district in Troy. Robert is an attorney that should know the law. Not only did he appear to lie on his affidavit, but there are allegations of tax fraud and mortgage fraud. If voters can’t trust Robert Lulgjuraj on this, how can they trust him on anything?” said Stu Sandler, a consultant for the Bouchard campaign.

To date, Bouchard and Lulgjuraj have been front-runners in the race. Both have raised over $1 million each since launching their campaigns last year, according to federal campaign finance filings. Kirk has raised roughly $88,300 and loaned about $300,000 in personal funds to his campaign.