“The primary is going to be a meatgrinder and whoever emerges is going to be broke, bloodied, and disliked…” – Republican consultant Mike Murray
Yesterday, the deadline passed to submit enough signatures to qualify for the August primary ballot. In the case of Republicans running for governor, this hurdle only managed to slim the field from 12 to 10 candidates, meaning that the race for the top of the ticket will remain bloated and messy for months to come.
At this point, even Republicans like consultant Mike Murray aren’t mincing their words, spelling doom for the “disaster” ahead as candidates ramp up efforts to kneecap each other:
“The primary is going to be a meatgrinder and whoever emerges as the nominee is going to be broke, bloodied, and disliked by 70%-plus of Republicans who supported one of the other candidates. And all the while Whitmer keeps adding to her mountain of cash.”
Because there is little daylight between their dangerous agendas that would hurt Michigan families, attacks are bound to get personal, and fast.
See excerpts below from Detroit Free Press on the MIGOP’s dashed “hope[s] to unite early around a single candidate” and read the full report here.
Detroit Free Press: Michigan’s Primary Ballot May be ‘Disaster’ for GOP Candidates for Governor, Expert Says
By Paul Egan
As many as 10 Republicans — believed to be a record number — are expected to have their names on Michigan’s Aug. 2 primary ballot for the right to challenge Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November, based on petitions filed ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
It’s not good news for a Michigan Republican Party that had hoped to unite early around a single candidate.
The large field means candidates will collectively need to spend many millions of dollars from Republican donors before it is known who will oppose Whitmer, who is sitting on a large and growing campaign war chest to see a second four-year term.
“It’s a disaster,” said Mike Murray, owner of Murray Communications, an Okemos-based firm that does consulting for Republican and nonpartisan candidates.
“The primary is going to be a meatgrinder and whoever emerges as the nominee is going to be broke, bloodied, and disliked by 70%-plus of Republicans who supported one of the other candidates. And all the while Whitmer keeps adding to her mountain of cash.”
Gus Portela, a spokesman for the state GOP, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. […]
The crowded primary also broadens the potential for Democratic meddling and mischief-making in the GOP primary, since Whitmer faces no primary opponent and Democrats who vote in the primary are free to choose a Republican ballot if they choose. Such crossover voting has happened before, such as in the 2000 presidential primary, when Democrats helped deliver Michigan to John McCain over George W. Bush in what was largely seen as a rebuke to then-Michigan Gov. John Engler. […]
Despite [James] Craig’s comments Monday, “there’s no frontrunner because Trump hasn’t yet endorsed,” Murray said. “Whomever he endorses will instantly become the prohibitive favorite in a ten-plus candidate field.” […]
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said each of the GOP candidates for governor “is pushing an agenda that aims to hamper our economy, ban access to reproductive health care, and drastically undercut law enforcement and public education.” She said Michigan families “are fortunate to have a leader in Gov. Whitmer who has worked with anyone to keep us first.”
