This Sunshine Week, MDP will be holding Republicans running for governor accountable, shedding light on the aspects of their campaign, background, or policies Michiganders deserve more transparency on.
Today’s candidate is out-of-touch millionaire Kevin Rinke, the other self-funder trying to buy his way through this crowded and messy primary. So far, the Toyota salesman has sold Michiganders a transparency lemon, leaving them in the dark on:
- How many boards he’s been paid to sit on and for how much, which he has previously refused to disclose
- How many times he’s been a defendant in cases pertaining to his known tendency to spew racial and sexual harassment, creating toxic workplace environments for his subordinates
- How many times such lawsuits resulted in him making hefty settlement payouts and for how much
Additionally, MDP is calling on all 12 gubernatorial candidates to disclose their tax returns and personal financial information.
Rinke has fundraised off his hollow claim that “Government should serve the people, not the other way around,” only to then pan these measures that are standard for elected officials and candidates in nearly every other state as “cynical,” according to recent reporting from Gongwer. Meanwhile, Governor Whitmer has voluntarily disclosed these materials annually since she was a candidate in 2018. Michigan working families deserve a better sense of which interests the entire field’s wrong-for-Michigan agendas are angling to protect.
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“Out-of-touch millionaire and Toyota salesman Kevin Rinke can’t even manage to call for transparency without criticizing accountability measures like financial disclosures in the same breath. Rinke has been asked about his plans to release personal financial information and disclose what boards he sits on, and has chosen to keep Michiganders in the dark.”
