This evening, millionaire Toyota salesman Kevin Rinke is hosting a campaign kickoff. Since joining the race in September, Rinke has wasted no time showing Michigan working families just how out-of-touch and wrong-for-Michigan his agenda is.
Rinke Won’t Protect the Right to Reproductive Health Care for Michigan Women and Families
Rinke made a dangerous commitment to enforce Michigan’s 1931 ban that criminalizes abortion, pledging that “as governor, I’m going to enforce that law of the land.” Anti-choice advocates have touted the law as the most restrictive in the country, and it would immediately go back into effect if Roe v. Wade gets overturned nationally by the Supreme Court.
Rinke is Campaigning Against Cutting Costs for Michigan Families
From the beginning, Rinke has strongly opposed Michigan families receiving a $400 refund check for every auto-insured vehicle in the state – the result of Governor Whitmer working across the aisle to put Michigan first and inking an “historic” bipartisan deal that is already delivering savings for drivers.
Using his millions, he cut an ad alleging that Whitmer imposed a “bad program” on Michigan drivers when in reality, she worked to drastically lower MCCA fees to the lowest they have been in nearly two decades. On the trail, he’s described the cost-cutting reforms as a “mistake” and saying he would have vetoed it had he been governor instead.
Rinke Allegedly Maintained a Toxic Workplace Environment Rife With Racial Slurs and Derogatory Comments About Women
Last month, The Detroit News released a report detailing the toxic workplace environment gubernatorial candidate Kevin Rinke created and maintained. According to court records, working for the Toyota car salesman was a deeply uncomfortable experience as Rinke “believed he could get away with anything.”
He was sued multiple times by employees, who said he asked women if they were wearing matching underwear, made lewd sexual gestures, employed “relentless racial slurs,” and even made sexually suggestive comments about infants. The constant barrage of offensive comments and racist language pushed employees to quit and cost Rinke thousands in settlement fees.
Like the Rest of the Crowded Republican Field, Rinke Has Downplayed the Violent Insurrection and Made Extreme Promises to Dismantle the Democratic Process
When explicitly asked during a September taping of the Guy Gordon Show if he was planning to “understate or diminish what happened on January 6th…to court the former president’s endorsement,” Rinke refused to qualify the violent attempt to overturn the 2020 election as an insurrection, referring to it as a “Trump rally” instead.
And between his issues page and intro ad, Rinke made the baseless claim that “2020 election was rife with administrative problems, leading to a tainted election” and pledged to “audit the voter rolls” – an extreme step that even the most vocal candidates on this issue like Garrett Soldano and Ryan Kelley have yet to take in their crusade to undermine public trust in the electoral process and limit Michiganders’ freedom to participate in democracy.
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“Kevin Rinke’s campaign kickoff will do little tonight to convince voters that his wrong-for-Michigan agenda is one worth adopting. At every turn, he’s displayed just how out of touch he is, from rejecting cost-cutting reforms for Michigan drivers, to cultivating toxic workplace environments, to pushing extreme anti-choice views that will do irreparable harm to women and families. Michiganders simply can’t afford the steep cost of electing this millionaire Toyota salesman to office.”
