(Radio Iowa) – A presidential candidate who’s campaigning in Iowa today (Monday) is blasting the rules that could prevent him from being in the first televised debate for G-O-P candidates. Perry Johnson is a Michigan businessman who’s sending his book — Two Cents to Save America — to thousands of likely Iowa Caucus goers.

In 2022, Johnson launched a campaign for governor in Michigan, but Michigan election officials ruled over 94-hundred signatures on his nominating petitions were invalid and he did not have enough signatures left to get his name on the primary ballot. Courts in Michigan and a federal judge denied Johnson’s appeal of that decision. Johnson says the qualifying rules for the first debate among G-O-P presidential candidates in August show Washington hates him.

Johnson has never held elected office. He has written several books and earned his fortune after founding a company that certifies if businesses are meeting industrial quality standards. Johnson launched his presidential campaign this spring, after airing a campaign-style ad in Iowa during the Super Bowl.

Johnson is scheduled to host a lunch in Creston at noon and a happy hour in Atlantic at 4 p.m. today. He has stops in Council Bluffs, Denison and Harlan on Tuesday.