MOUNT PLEASANT — Michigan Republicans filled a Mount Pleasant convention hall Aug. 22 to give their final endorsements for the GOP ticket and whip up enthusiasm ahead of a November midterm where nearly every influential level of the state’s governance structure is on the ballot.
Republican gubernatorial candidate John James and GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers attempted to rally supporters by painting a picture of a splintered Democratic coalition increasingly leaning toward socialism and division over U.S. support for Israel.
“History teaches us to beware of socialists who scapegoat Jews and those who are complicit in their hate,” said James from the convention stage at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. “The Star of David is a target now. But the cross is next. Jewish Democratic leaders are afraid to attend their own convention for fear of their safety.”
Rogers described his opponent, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, as a “conman” who had never held down a long-term job, continues to receive campaign cash after calling for “money out of politics,” and campaigns with far-left personalities such as streamer Hasan Piker.
Rogers argued the federal government needed to improve education, border security and efforts to keep fentanyl off the streets — something he argued hasn’t been accomplished in the 25 years of Michigan’s Democratic representation in the U.S. Senate.
“They’re putting Michigan last,” Rogers said. “And what do we have to show for it? An education system that serves as a pipeline to poverty. 200,000 manufacturing jobs gone. The highest utility rates in the Midwest. The highest auto insurance in the United States.”
Neither James nor Rogers took questions from reporters after the convention, where delegates formally nominated state Rep. Jay DeBoyer of St. Clair County to be the party’s lieutenant governor candidate this fall.
More than 2,252 Republican delegates and 161 alternates had been credentialed for Aug. 22’s convention, party officials said.
The full convention hall and clear enthusiasm among Republicans in Mount Pleasant comes as the GOP ticket will face a variety of obstacles in the weeks ahead of Nov. 3. The party’s August primary turnout lagged far behind Democrats; gas prices and cost of living expenses remain high under the Trump administration; and fundraising totals for the Republican attorney general and secretary of state candidates, revealed earlier this month, were dwarfed by their Democratic counterparts.
From the convention stage, mentions of Republican President Donald Trump were rare and, on the convention floor, questions about gas prices and fundraising challenges were answered with hopes that the trends would soon change.
Michigan Democrats, in a statement Aug. 22, argued Michigan residents feel and will remember the “cost-raising effects of Donald Trump’s presidency” in the weeks to come.
“Voters have seen how Republicans will always put Trump and his agenda first, even at the expense of Michigan,” said Curtis Hertel Jr., chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. “While Republicans embrace Trump, Democrats are speaking with Michiganders about what keeps them up at night and sharing our plans to lower costs, raise wages, and protect our rights. Michigan Democrats are energized to take our country back this November.”
Tom Kanalas, a Republican from Jackson County, argued GOP elected officials and candidates need to do a better job conveying that the short-term pain at the pump is worth Trump’s war against Iran. He’s hopeful costs will come back down sometime in the fall but, in the meantime, he said, clear messaging on the issue is key.
“It’s a problem,” Kanalas said. “I think when people aren’t involved, they don’t know what’s going on, they blame somebody because it hurts them and their wallet. But 47 years of ‘death to America’ has to stop.
“They have to educate everybody,” he added of the party. “They just have to say. ‘This is what’s going on, they’ll come down, be patient.’”
Former state Rep. Jeff Yaroch, R-Richmond, said he wasn’t too concerned with the lopsided turnout during the primary, when nearly 900,000 Republicans voted compared to roughly 1.5 million for Democrats, with El-Sayed and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens battling for the Senate nomination.
“At least on the Republican side, I think a lot of things were decided,” Yaroch said. “On the Democrat side, I think there was more motivation because they had a big fight on the Senate race, and I think that affected the turnout.”
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Jim Runestad also dismissed concerns about primary turnout, also saying the GOP ticket was largely settled ahead of time. He also said several individuals at the Aug. 22 convention had approached him to say they’d voted in the Democratic primary to influence their results.
But Runestad still stressed in his remarks from the convention stage that speeches don’t win elections, that Democrats were well-organized and that Republicans would need to stay active to secure victory in November.
“Keep in mind, Michigan is not a permanently red or permanently blue state,” Runestad said. “It is a state that has to be earned.”
While James and Rogers spent much of their time on stage warning of a far-left Democratic agenda, they also spoke about the need for better schools, public safety, affordability and infrastructure. Other Republicans on the ballot offered more practical goals for what they hoped to achieve in office and the messaging needed amid political headwinds.
Julie Maday, a candidate for the Michigan State University Board of Trustees, said the state desperately needs changes to its education system while stumping for the Republican candidates for various university boards and the State Board of Education.
“Only 1 in 4 Michigan fourth graders read at grade level, 1 in 4, and more than 1 in 4 missed so much school last year that the state calls them chronically absent,” Maday said. “We are the state that put the world on wheels and we cannot teach our own children to read. That is not a budget problem, that’s a leadership problem.”
Speaking with reporters after the convention, DeBoyer said a James administration would focus on improved education, prioritized public safety, right-sized government and better infrastructure.
“You have to talk about policy, which we are, have been and will be,” DeBoyer said. “But I think it’s important to distinguish between what you see at the top of the ticket for the Republican party and what you see at the top of the ticket in the Democratic party. And the reality is there is a very real distinction. The distinction is freedom, individual rights and liberties versus big government policies and spending.”
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan Republicans seek unity, enthusiasm before uncertain midterms
Reporting by Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
