This week, out-of-touch gubernatorial candidate Kevin Rinke joined the Republican primary with a self-funded TV ad buy which placed him firmly in line with the rest of the extremists in this crowded field.
This buy brings the total amount of money spent on negative attack ads against Governor Whitmer to nearly $2 million since the 2022 cycle began.
Over a series of ads, Rinke relies on false, hyperpartisan attacks that only successfully communicate to Michigan families that the solutions that keep them first will never be as important to him as blatantly distorting Governor Whitmer’s undeniably strong record.
Here’s the facts:
Kevin Rinke Knows That Governor Whitmer’s Leadership Has Been Monumental For Michigan’s Auto Industry
In his ads, Kevin Rinke relies on false attacks on Whitmer and ignores that Governor Whitmer has fought to ensure that Michigan can still be “the place that put the world on wheels,” but refused to acknowledge it to fit his hyperpartisan narrative.
Since taking office, she has created 15,000 auto jobs. This includes the 6,500 jobs created as a result of Fiat Chrysler’s 2019 decision to build an auto assembly plant in Detroit – a $4.5 billion investment in the region and the first plant in the city in almost three decades.
Rinke Ignores the Fact That Governor Whitmer Has Fought Hard to Establish Our State as the Frontline of Auto Industry Innovations
Governor Whitmer has not only put Michigan back on the map for the auto industry, but the future of it as well. Last year, on top of announcing major multi-million dollar investments in several manufacturing plants across the state, GM chose a plant in Detroit to convert to its first all-electric vehicle assembly line.
Even the venue Rinke chose to shoot his ads, M1 Concourse in Pontiac, weeks prior served as the proving ground of the wins Whitmer has delivered for the auto industry and infrastructure. It’s where she announced a MDOT-Office of Future Mobility and Electrification partnership that will “deploy an electrified roadway system that allows electric buses, shuttles and vehicles to charge while driving, enabling electric vehicles to operate continuously without stopping to charge.”
Rinke Resorted to Rattling Off a Random List of Conservative Buzzwords In a Weak Attempt to Undermine Governor Whitmer’s Proven Commitment to Keep Michigan First
Rinke relies on conservative buzzwords instead of fact in a weak and contextless attempt to bury several proof points of Governor Whitmer’s strong leadership.
During the early days of the pandemic, Governor Whitmer fought to keep Michiganders safe, negotiating a bipartisan deal that secured over $140 million for restart efforts and personal protective equipment – going to over 14,000 small businesses. Additionally, her Small Business Survival Grant program saved over 52,000 jobs statewide.
Thanks to Whitmer’s strategic investments into small businesses when they needed it most, Michigan is also competitive nationally and was ranked as a top ten state for new business creation.
Governor Whitmer Has Worked With Anyone To Keep Michigan Competitive Through Its Economic Recovery and Has Made Strategic, Historic Investments In Public Education
Staying above the partisan fray, Governor Whitmer guided Michigan to the strong economic recovery working families have seen all year. For the second quarter of the year, the state’s economy grew at such a rapid clip that it was the “third highest in the nation and the best in the Midwest.” In July, Michigan ranked #2 for recovering from COVID-19 economic losses.
This year, Governor Whitmer secured a bipartisan $17.1 billion dollar public education budget that completely closed a decades-long state funding gap between school districts and is the “largest investment in PreK-12 schools in state history” — all without raising taxes.
