GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Four republicans who want to be the next governor of Michigan took to the stage Wednesday night night on the campus of Grand Valley State University.
The debate was organized by the Michigan Republican Party and WOOD-TV and was broadcast live for an hour across the state with the end of the debate live streaming on the TV station’s website.
Republicans Tudor Dixon, Kevin Rinke, Ryan Kelley and Garrett Soldano were at the debate, having qualified to appear after having met the 5% threshold in independent polling in order to be invited. Candidate and pastor Ralph Rebandt didn’t qualify and wasn’t at the debate.
The host, political reporter Rick Albin, moderated the debate, asking questions from viewers in addition to his own.
The latest Lansing-based MIRS/Mitchell Research poll that was conducted on June 21st and 22nd among likely voters reported that there is a close race between Dixon (15%), Rinke (15%) and Kelley (13%). Soldano received 8% in the polling and Rebandt had 3%.
A whopping 46% of the voters are still undecided with only 26 days let to go before the August 2nd primary so the debate was a chance for the candidates to convince the voters why they are the best choice to go against incumbent democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer in November.
What were the key takeaways from the evening?
Ryan Kelley and Garrett Soldano Showed That Tudor Dixon is Their Greatest Threat to Getting the Nomination
Both Kelley and Soldano painted Dixon as the “establishment” candidate and Soldano went after her several times, accusing her of being backed by the “Devos Empire.”
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During several segments of the debate, Soldano looked directly at Dixon and accused her of not doing enough about the lockdowns and being bought and paid for by the establishment. In his closing remarks that were televised, Soldano said, “The establishment backed candidate (Dixon) hid in the basement, sat on the sidelines, in the
bleachers and did nothing as Governor Whitmer took away our constitutional freedoms, shut down our churches, shut down our restaurants, shut down our businesses, diminished our children’s experiences – their opportunities and dreams, did a second lockdown and it just kept going on and on…”
Ryan Kelley went after Dixon for various things including not answering questions. He brought up what seemed to be an unrelated thing from the past when he said to her, “Tudor, when we were at this last debate, I brought up some things with Executive Directives vs. Executive Orders and I’m surprised you didn’t quite understand what that
was.” He also pointed out how Dixon has the establishment lining up behind her, referencing the 20 current Michigan legislators who have endorsed her in recent days.
Dixon, for her part, held her ground against the arrows coming her way and stayed focused on Whitmer and how she has mismanaged the state and would be a continuing threat if she stayed in office.
All Candidates Believe That There Was Voter Fraud and/or Illegalities in Michigan During the 2020 Presidential Election
The moderator asked the candidates what they believed about the 2020 election and if they thought that the election in Michigan was stolen.
Kelley said yes, the election in Michigan was fraudulent and stolen from Trump. He pointed to the Dinesh D’Souza documentary “2000 Mules” which was created to expose widespread and coordinated voter fraud.
He pointed to suspicious election activity including ballot drops early in the morning and what was happening at the TCF center during ballot counting in Detroit and how pizza boxes were used to cover the windows.
Kelley said it was an “invalid election from the very beginning” due to what happened under democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson who he said violated election law ahead of time by the way she handled absentee ballots.
Soldano also talked about “2000 Mules” as evidence of voter fraud and said when there’s new evidence that comes to light, it should be investigated and not swept under the rug. He wants people to be confident that their vote counts no matter what political party they vote for.
Dixon said, “We have to question what happens in an election when the Secretary of State (Benson) changes the rules right before the election.” Dixon talked about Benson reducing the signature match requirement and sending out absentee ballot applications to every registered voter in the state and saying she must have had a “nefarious plan.”
Dixon also reminded everyone about the $12 million of Zuckerberg money (Zuck Bucks) that flowed into the state and said “so we have to question where did this money go, how many boots were on the ground, was there ballot harvesting…we don’t know what happened in the election where the Secretary of State is cheating.”
Rinke said “There is no question that there was fraud” and said “2000 Mules” showed how it was done or could have been done.
None of the Candidates Think Too Highly of Whitmer and How She Handled the COVID-19 Pandemic
It was clear during the debate that their opposition to Whitmer lockdowns of businesses, churches and schools will play a big part in any campaign that they run against her.
When asked, all of the candidates except Kelley said the lockdowns were a large part of what made them decide to run for governor and they made the lockdowns a primary focus of their complaints about Whitmer during the debate.
The candidates were asked about how they would have governed during the pandemic. Dixon said she would have put her trust in the people and the businesses – and the experts.
Rinke said that the Whitmer administration ignored medical science and did the wrong thing by putting sick people in nursing homes and closing down schools.
Kelley said he would have upheld the people’s constitutional rights, empowering them with information, science and knowledge and there would have been no lockdowns under his leadership.
Soldano went after Dixon and Rinke and said “you both stayed silent” during the lockdowns and said it was wrong to take away constitutional freedoms and people need to be given the truth.
By the end of the debate, it was clear that all of the candidates were in agreement that this is a pivotal moment in the country and in Michigan and that good constitutional leadership is what is needed to move the country and the state in the right direction.
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