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Below I’ll do my best to present unbiased information about candidates who have announced their bid for Michigan’s 2022 gubernatorial race, at the end I’ll offer a few opinions on who I think has a chance and who I believe brings the most interesting ideas to the table.
Republican Candidates
- James Craig(R) - Probably the most well known candidate to date thanks to his connections in the media, is the former police chief of Detroit who says he’s looking to fill the “leadership void” in the state. His platform remains mostly undisclosed but his messaging is clear, he claims to stand for a pro police, pro education message. He leads with the fact that during last years BLM riots Detroit was one of the least effected cities. There were large protests but Craig claims that unlike in other cities the DPD didn’t retreat and kept the worst of it at bay. He also instituted Project Green Light (PGL) which places live cameras across Detroit so the department can keep an eye out for crime. Though in recent years the project has come under scrutiny for its excessive facial recognition capabilities as well as its intrusion into schools.
“We saw what happened in Detroit last year. Certainly, we were one of the few major cities that didn’t burn last year. We’re talking about leadership — building relationships,” he added. “Small businesses are sick and tired of these unilateral decisions. It’s not the pandemic. It’s really the decisions that were made. And then you talk about schools. I mean, so there’s a lot going on. But people want leadership. It’s just that simple.”
https://chiefjamescraig.com/
- Tudor Dixon(R) - Her career began in Chicago with a public relations and marketing firm after graduating from the University of Kentucky with a degree in psychology. In the early 2000’s her father recruited her after purchasing the steel plant where she would work for the next 10 years, eventually being sold during the 2008 recession. Now she hosts an evening weekday show for the conservative media outlet Real America’s Voice. She’s a cancer survivor and mother of four who wants to make Michigan more competitive, heavily criticizing Whitmer’s failure to attract the new Ford Electric Vehicle plants as well as calling out the authoritarian lockdowns.
“I’m running for governor because I take a look at this state coming out of COVID, we have a lot to catch up on. But also, even before that, we have a lot to do with education here in the state. We have one of the lowest reading proficiency levels in the nation. Our education, we were listed as 38th in US News and World Report. To come back from that, we have major issues building back our workforce and bringing business back into Michigan.”
https://tudordixon.com/
- Austin Chenge(R) - The Nigerian born immigrant who studied law at the University of Birmingham in England and has served in the U.S army as a specialist since 2018, was the first Republican to announce their candidacy for Michigan’s 2022 gubernatorial race. With no political experience Chenge set the stage by spending 7 weeks visiting all 83 counties in Michigan, the first to do so in over 30 years. Giving him a ton of social media recognition and an actual competitive following. Now on day one he claims he will cancel Michigan’s contract with Dominion voting systems and enforce “No Photo I.D/No Vote”. He’s pro 2A, pledging to instill constitutional carry and is strongly against vaccine mandates or passports of any kind.
“... so late 2019 I was really worried about the direction our country was heading. So I prayed about it, I’m a Christian. And I prayed to God about it, and the spirit, led me, and I was worried because I have no background in politics whatsoever, but the spirit led me that when even when you’re a nobody, just like David, God can lift you up to fight for the people.”
https://www.austinforgovernor.com/
- Mike Brown(R) - The 56 year old commander of Michigan’s southwest state police force is another amongst the first to toss their name in the ring. With 33 years working in leadership roles with the state police and 4 years prior serving in the Marine Corps he’s looking to strengthen public safety and lower taxes. A heavy critic of Whitmer’s policies, he claims that if he were governor he’d be able to fix the roads without raising taxes and goes as far as to say he’ll cut small business taxes and regulation to rebuild the economy after her “draconian” lockdowns.
“Some of my top priorities will be to increase the public safety in Michigan, that’s a huge issue that happens to be my specialty. So that needs to happen to return to safe communities and have young men and women, regain interest in law enforcement. Workforce development and education are another top priority. And also agriculture.”
- RYAN D. KELLY(R) - The grassroots republican who gained online notoriety advocating against Whitmer’s lockdowns and by vlogging his families lifestyle. He sits currently on the Allendale Township Planning Commission and has been been organizing rallies for a couple of years now. His political agenda could simply be described as patriotic and constitutional. Believing in limited government and the human rights recognized by the constitution. He promises to institute constitutional carry, though he directs most of his attention to criticizing election integrity and CRT in education.
“Education is going to be one of the top policies because that is, with our next generation, if we lose our next generation to, whether it’s critical race theory social-emotional learning that is not really teaching the full potential, but more geared towards, you know, how to think about certain situations and changing the morals of our country and our culture that’s going to be detrimental to the future.”
https://ryandkelley.com/
- RALPH REBANDT(R)- A pastor from Woodhaven, Michigan who claims a clear call from god has lead him to run for governor. He’s served as lead pastor for Oakland Hills Community Church in Woodhaven and as chaplain for the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. He’s running on his self branded “lighthouse initiative”, which focuses on upholding religious freedoms, first/second amendment rights, and pro life policies.
“I will restore the foundation of our National Motto "In God We Trust". The First Amendment was designed to protect the religious rights of American citizens, and although our National Motto, "In God We Trust", has been challenged numerous times over the past 50 years, it has been successfully upheld by the Supreme Court. The Founders understood this and framed our Declaration of Independence to confirm the fact that our rights come from God and not the government or any other entity. Unless we get God right, nothing else will matter, and the claims of socialism and communism will find a place in the public square and in the marketplace of ideas.”
https://www.ralphrebandtforgovernor.com/
- GARRETT SOLDANO(R) - A chiropractor and small business owner who was personally effected by Whitmer’s lockdowns. He’s amongst the most popular candidates and has received over 20,633 individual contributions giving him that grassroots edge over candidates like James Craig. He gained his notoriety by posting videos on facebook during the pandemic and creating a group that amassed over 400,000 members before being taken down by the site. Which would explain why one of his key issues is cracking down on big tech to prevent them from abusing first amendment rights and from manipulating the national narrative. On his website it also says he wants to create a small business revolution and move away from relying on the idea of incentivizing large corporations with unfair tax plans. Most importantly it should be noted that Soldano was a citizen co-chair of the unlock Michigan campaign that gathered over 539,000 signatures to revoke the 1945 emergency powers law that Whitmer was abusing.
“We must protect the vulnerable like we always have right, and we must continue to protect the vulnerable even with this virus and future viruses and the flu and everything else but you can’t just use blanket approaches and shut down the economy and take away kids experiences, their hopes, and their dreams. It’s just not adding up right now.”
https://garrettformichigan.com/home/
-KEVIN RINKE(R) - Smelling the blood in the water, the Oakland county millionaire has pledged to throw down $10 million of his own money to support his campaign. Having already thrown down $2 million he now sits level with the fundraising done by another front runner, James Craig.
Having spent much of his life within the Metro Detroit dealership world, Kevin claims to have the acute leadership abilities that this state needs. Frequently calling out partisan appeals by current sitting governor Gretchen Whitmer as well as claiming to have the business chops to real in companies like GM without overspending. He favors strong small business, a capable law enforcement as well as accountability for the education system.
“Only in America do countless families like mine have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. My grandfather started one of the first GM franchises here in Michigan over 100 years ago. I started working in our family business at the bottom - clearing trash, cleaning restrooms, and washing cars. At 26-years old, I took the helm and helped build and grow our company into one of the most successful automotive groups in the country,”
- BOB SCOTT(R) - A Christian man in spirit but a constitutional patriot at heart. Bob’s mission stands out on the basis that he does a good job sticking to the issues and not wasting his time diving into culture war nonsense. His priorities focus around preserving the rights recognized by the 1st and 2nd amendments. The right to speech and freedom of religion as well as the 2nds role in guaranteeing the right to defend all rights. As for policies his stance generally involves a minimalistic government approach, instead working on making things smoother for people. Such as cleaning up lines at the Secretary of State and upgrading software on government computers to allow for easier access to information. He also wants to use our roads funds more effectively by building roads that will last for a minimum of 30yrs, and pull government overregulation out of the schools and the economy.
“our First Amendment right is the right to gather and speak and convey ideas and stuff. If we don’t have that we don’t have anything that’s what that was the black robe regiment during the Revolutionary War, the dissemination of ideas and stuff, which got our independence. The second one is the Second Amendment. If we lose those two, we lose everything. We cannot afford to lose those two amendments.”
https://bobscottformichigangovernor.com/
- EVAN SPACE(R) - A veteran of the Michigan National guard who served as a combat engineer for eight years, ultimately rising to the rank of Sergeant and all the while taking political science courses at Grand Valley University. Of all the candidates he definitely has the most interesting platform, with ideas ranging from trains connecting the peninsulas to reestablishing an active duty national guard base and even building space stations across Michigan. He doesn’t have any political experience beyond attempting a previous run in 2018 from which he say he learned a lot and hopes to bring that new experience with him on this run. His top priorities upon entering office will be to eliminate the business tax and complete a full 100-day audit of the state government to figure out where money is really going.
“what I’m looking to do is actually bring jobs to Michigan by creating the space exploration program for the state of Michigan. My idea is to be the governor of the future. I really want to bring manufacturing jobs, launch sites and support jobs to state for the space launch era that we are coming into. It’s something that we’re not going away from, and it’s going to be game-heavy, and why not have Michigan be the front runner, and taking the lead and being that one state that everything with the north, being launched out of?”
https://space4governor.com/
The playing field is already crowded though really there are only 2 candidates who I’d say have a real chance next year against Whitmer. Ryan Kelly or Garrett Soldano, both of whom I admittedly wasn’t a fan of at first glance. Though after digging deeper and listening to both of them speak they definitely hold key traits that I believe will be necessary to win this next election.
They are both outsiders to politics who raised their support through grassroot means, avoiding the big donor trap many neocons/neolibs fall into.
They both gained their notoriety through online mediums showing an understanding of the current paradigm (though Kelly admittedly has also done more in person rallies)
Strong Public Speakers, considering that Whitmer was a prosecutor before her career in politics(shocking) whoever goes up against her is going to have to have some intellectual chops and will have to stand their ground against emotional attacks.
As the Virginia election shows, major policies that people want to see on the board are the dismantling of CRT in education, guaranteeing an open economy and providing opportunity for Michiganders to climb that economic ladder.
Other candidates that have some ideas worth looking at include Evan Space, Articia Bomer and Bob Scott.
-Evan Space’s proposal to bring the space age to Michigan is an amazing idea. It’ll bring not just high paying jobs and business but it will offer first hand education to Michigan students so they can have an edge as we all move into the future.
-Articia Bomer’s first hand polling experience and knowledge of James Craig’s overreaching Green light Project make her a powerful voice in a sea of silence.
-Bob Scott’s plan to modernize government systems and his understanding of the danger of globalistic creep definitely makes his message worth a second look.
Lastly I’ll say this, avoid James Craig at all costs. I genuinely believe he’s a plant to put a candidate so worthless in the Republican position that Whitmer can just float her way back into office. He has no solid policy agenda and has been a cop for his entire career. His status quo is following orders as he showed during the lockdowns, issuing over 6,000 tickets to local businesses for trying to stay open. He’s the hammer that will see every problem as a nail, and will claim his “successes” in Detroit give him grounds to issue similar policies across the state. I don’t know about you but I don’t want his facial recognition cameras following my every move and existing in every business, school and public space.
You do not have to have a political background to run for an office...You need to run a State like a business not like a court room. Garrett Soldano is the number #1 pick for me, this man has been out there for Michigan since the lockdowns began while everyone else sat one their butts and did nothing. plus one other fact, James Craig is still a registered Democrat, he has never changed his political affiliation to republican
Just had a fund raiser for Kevin Rinke. Please review him as well.