Richard Griffin has withdrawn his candidacy for Grand Rapids City Commission Third Ward seat after failing to collect the required nominating signatures.
Griffin, a former juvenile lifer who served 23 years in prison before his 2017 parole, announced his decision via social media on April 24. He stated that his campaign did not meet the threshold requirements for nominating signatures.
"While this is an unfortunate reality, it is not a loss. We learned so much valuable information within this process," Griffin wrote in a social media post. "Most of which, where we need to focus our Voter Registration energy and attention at."
Griffin planned to run for the Third Ward commission seat, which covers Grand Rapids' southeast side.
At 16 years old in 1995, Griffin was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a murder on Grand Rapids' southeast side. He served 23 years before being paroled in 2017 under court rulings that found mandatory life sentences for juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment.
Griffin's campaign had gained attention when he first announced his candidacy in March 2026. The former juvenile lifer emphasized his lived experience and his work in criminal justice reform.
Before announcing his withdrawal, Griffin was active in community advocacy. He worked for the ACLU of Michigan as part of their smart justice campaign and served as director of the Cure Violence Program for the Urban League of West Michigan. During his tenure with the Cure Violence Program, the organization reported an 80% reduction in aggravated assaults and a decrease in homicides in Third Ward target areas.
Griffin said his work with the ACLU, conversations with leaders about criminal justice reform, and academic pursuits in political science and political history gave him "the political bug."
He was also a grassroots organizer for the ACLU's smart justice campaign and voter access objectives.
During a video interview prior to his campaign launch, Griffin acknowledged that some people might be hesitant about his campaign because he is a former juvenile lifer. He was 16 in June 1995 when he was charged with killing 18-year-old Ronald Jones near Bates and Neland. He received two life sentences in 1996 for second-degree murder and assault with intent to murder.
Griffin was granted parole in 2017. He said he was not resentenced under the 2012 US Supreme Court decision Miller v Alabama that ruled mandatory life without parole for juveniles unconstitutional. But he came up for parole after serving 15 years and was deemed rehabilitated.
Griffin's campaign focused on issues facing the southeast side of Grand Rapids. He spoke about unhoused communities, people in the legal system, mental health, and policing and community safety.
"He believes those of us with lived experience need to be at the table when discussing how to address gun violence and youth violence," Griffin said in his campaign interview. "If those persons with lived experience aren't at the table, then we're kind of at the mercy of anybody who's structuring what programs or possibilities there are to move young men and women into a different direction."
The decision to run came after several conversations with community members from the Third Ward who felt they lacked representation.
"So many times I've been approached by community members from the Third Ward saying, 'Nobody speaks for us,' Griffin said. 'I enjoy seeing this person advocate for us, or this person speaks on our behalf, but they don't come from what we come from. They haven't experienced the things that we've experienced. We need leadership that understands what we're going through.'"
Griffin did not comment on his reasons for withdrawing beyond the signature threshold issue. His social media post thanked many supporters for their involvement in the process.
Griffin now plans to focus on voter registration efforts in the community.