DETROIT — Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel released the following statement on two-time statewide loser John James becoming the Republican nominee for governor:
“John James is a failed politician who spends his time in D.C. lining his own pockets, while voting for higher costs for the rest of us. He’s championed every single one of Donald Trump’s extreme policies—from the disastrous federal budget law and illegal tariffs to the unpopular war in Iran—that have raised healthcare, gas, grocery, and utility prices on working families. James has voted dozens of times against protecting Medicaid and drafted a budget to gut Social Security. Meanwhile, he’s given a tax cut to millionaires like himself and made hundreds of stock trades in companies that he oversees, and then broken the law by failing to report them.
“Michigan voters have already rejected John James twice statewide, and that’s exactly what we’re going to make sure happens for a third time this November.”
Here’s what to know about John James’ history of voting for Trump’s policies, his self-enrichment, and his extreme agenda:
John James voted for Trump’s price-hiking budget law that cut healthcare and raised prices. James ‘led the charge’ on the largest Medicaid cuts in history, which could force nearly 500,000 Michiganders to lose coverage, and he voted to protect Trump’s cost-raising tariffs, which have wreaked havoc on Michigan manufacturing.
- As Trump’s chaotic war in Iran has sent prices skyrocketing, James voted to keep the war going and said Trump was “on the right track.”
- James has enriched himself by making hundreds of stock trades—even violating the STOCK Act by failing to properly disclose more than 145 trades trades. In June, James’ family purchased stock in Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which James oversees through his position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. James’ committee regulates the development of data centers, and SpaceXAI, a SpaceX subsidiary, has been a major player in building data centers nationwide.
- James is funded by data center developers who want to use water from the Great Lakes to cool the data centers.
- James voted for Trump’s budget law in order to give tax cuts to millionaires like himself, with James seeing direct personal benefit.
- James has received millions of dollars in support from the DeVos family, who have attacked Michigan’s public schools and want to drive our state backwards.
- James has pushed Trump’s stolen election conspiracies about the 2020 election—including saying he got ‘screwed’, accusing the 2020 election of being rigged, and falsely claiming Trump won Michigan three times.
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