Unsurprisingly, another week in the Republican race for governor is not ending with a bang but with a whimper. The sidelines got even more crowded as MIRS broke the news this week that former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield would not be pursuing a run for governor citing a preference for “enjoying life in the private sector and spending time with the family.” As far as the top-tier goes, Chatfield joins “dream candidate” Candice Miller, RNC chair and master backpeddler Ronna McDaniel, militia kidnapper apologist and vaccine truther Mike Shirkey, and nickel thief and two-time statewide loser John James who remains MIA.
For those that are in the primary, the race to be the most pure extremist is well underway. Garrett Soldano embraced “lock her up” calls against Governor Whitmer at a campaign rally this week. Not to be outdone, Tudor Dixon took to Fox News to vaguely display her “approv[al] of all of the policies President Trump had” and tout her proximity to his orbit.
Soldano, Dixon, and the other four candidates in the ring are certainly extremists, but that doesn’t mean they won’t go farther to appeal where they think the primary electorate is headed in Michigan. Just this week, GOP co-chair Ron Weiser — who infamously called Governor Whitmer, Attorney General Nessel, and Secretary of State Benson “witches” to be “burn[ed] at the stake” and quipped about the “assassination” of GOP Congressmen Upton and Meijer — got a taste of the rabid toxicity he’s fostered in his own party.
Self-proclaimed “MAGA conservatives” staged a protest outside his office in an effort to pressure Weiser to censure MIGOP executive director Jason Roe for exhibiting a brief moment of clarity in laying 2020’s presidential loss where it belongs — squarely at the feet of Donald Trump, not voter fraud. “Frankly, continuing to humor him merely excuses [Trump’s] role in this,” said Roe. “The election wasn’t stolen, he blew it.”
And with that, a May in which Republican party leadership wasted yet another month trying and failing to recruit a viable non-extremist for governor comes to an end, and a long weekend begins. Have fun and stay safe from all of us at MDP!
