RYAN KELLEY

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected a request to have a Republican candidate for governor declared ineligible because of his attendance at the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Ryan Kelley faces misdemeanor charges in Washington. But in a 3-0 order, the court noted he hasn’t been convicted of anything.

A lawsuit claimed the western Michigan man’s participation makes him ineligible for office under the U.S. Constitution.

The 14th Amendment states that anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S. and has taken an oath to support the Constitution cannot hold a state office.

Kelley took an oath in 2019 when he was a planning commissioner in Allendale Township, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of an Oakland County man by the former head of the state Democratic Party.

Kelley, a firm supporter of former President Donald Trump, has acknowledged being outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but said “claims of insurrection are laughable.”

He is among five candidates in the Republican primary election Aug. 2.

In May, five other Republicans — James Craig, Michael Markey, Michael Brown, Perry Johnson and Donna Brandenburg — were declared ineligible for the governor’s race, the result of a tie vote by the Board of State Canvassers. State election officials said they didn’t meet the 15,000-signature threshold because of fraudulent signatures on petitions.

Craig, the former Detroit police chief who had been viewed as one of the front-runners for the GOP, has since filed to run as a write-in candidate.