Tonight, voters in every corner of Michigan tuned to watch a rocky performance from Tudor Dixon as her canned criticisms fell flat stacked up against Governor Whitmer’s detailed vision of what she has done and will continue to do to keep working families first. Throughout the hour, the DeVos sellout struggled to answer basic questions about her dangerous agenda to eliminate abortion access, divert businesses to other states, and drain critical funding from public safety funding, education, and infrastructure.
See below for reactions to tonight’s performance.
Once Again, Governor Whitmer Took Tudor Dixon to Task on Her Callous and Extreme Anti-Abortion Statements and Dixon Blatantly Dodged Accountability
Tom Jordan (WJR): 1st Question is on Proposal 3:
Whitmer: preserves right under Roe V Wade
Michigan would revert to 1931 law that makes abortion a felony.
Prop 3 enshrined abortion into law. Whitmer says parental rights will stay in effect
Emily Lawler (MLive): Proposal 3 is “absolutely necessary,” says Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in first Q of the debate. Says it’s the way to protect women.
Sam Robinson (Axios Detroit): “(Dixon) is the one that said a 14 year old child, raped by her uncle, perfect example of someone who should not have reproductive rights, and the ability to choose,” Whitmer says.
Alice Miranda Ollstein (Politico): The second Whitmer-Dixon debate is happening now. Asked what about the state’s 1931 abortion ban she would change, Dixon pivoted completely away from the topic and went after Whitmer’s Lt. Gov on voting/elections.
Tudor Dixon Tried New 2020 Material to Avoid Questions About Her Record
Chad Livengood (Detroit News): “Behind closed doors, she tells her radical special interest groups that she will do anything necessary to curtail election rights,” Whitmer said of Dixon.
Craig Mauger (Detroit News): Gov. Whitmer labels Tudor Dixon an “election denier.”
Dixon doesn’t address her own stance on the 2020 election but criticizes Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who ran for Detroit city clerk in 2017 and criticized the incumbent clerk, Janice Winfrey.
Chad Livengood (Detroit News): Dixon asked if she would change 1931 law criminalizing abortion. She didn’t answer. Instead, Dixon labels [Lt. Gov Gilchrist] an election denier because he called for a recount in a Detroit city clerk’s race. Gilchrist accepted his loss. Trump and many of his supporters have not.
As Inflation Impacts the World, Governor Whitmer Walked Through the Many Steps She’s Taken to Cut Costs for Working Families
Sam Robinson (Axios Detroit): Whitmer outlines plans to eliminate the retirement tax, triple the earned income tax credit and pause the sales tax on gas. “All proposals I’ve made that are sitting in front of the legislature,” Whitmer says.
Clara Hendrickson (Detroit Free Press): Second question focuses on inflation. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says a governor can’t fix global inflation but can put more money back in your pocket. She points to daycare affordability as one example.
Governor Whitmer Exposed Dixon’s Complete Lack of a Plan for Her Budget Proposal That Would Slash $12 Billion and Kneecap Law Enforcement, Public Education, and Infrastructure
Eric Lloyd (9&10 News): W: Dixon wants to cut income and retirement tax. Toyed with sales tax. How can you balance the budget that way?
D: Income tax would be reduced over 8-10 years. Bringing more people to the state would solve all issues with revenue.
Dave Eggert (Crain’s Detroit): Dixon says she would repeal the personal income tax gradually over 8-10 years. Whitmer has been asking how that could be sustained given how much of the state budget comes from the income tax.
At the Expense of Real Gun Violence Prevention, Tudor Dixon Continued to Push Her Vague, Ineffective Solution to “Harden” Schools and Treat Books as a Bigger Threat to Parents Than a Shooting
Sam Robinson (Axios Detroit): “If Dixon is elected, she and her biggest funder Betsy DeVos will be writing the education budget and their plan is to get out of our public school system,” Whitmer says.
Eric Lloyd (9&10 News): D: Not true and if Dixon is elected Betsy DeVos will make school policy and defund public schools.
Sam Robinson (Axios Detroit): Whitmer says parents have rights to opt children out of material: “We also have a duty to make sure that all children feel accepted and safe and can learn and play when they are in school. I reject the false choice that it has to be one or the other,” Whitmer says.
Eric Lloyd (9&10 News): W: As a parent, I know parents can opt out kids and get involved at meetings to have a say in schools. Dixon hosted someone on her show that said MLK Jr. shouldn’t be in history books.
D: She will not stand with parents on this issue.
Eric Lloyd (9&10 News): Q: Guns and safety in schools?
W: I support red flag laws and safe storage. Dixon didn’t even know what that was when asked. She posted a photo with a gun saying “Gun Control is using both hands” the same month of the Oxford shooting. It’s a joke to her.
Emily Lawler (Detroit Free Press): “Her plans are downright dangerous,” Whitmer says of Dixon’s school safety/gun control plans. Dixon says she favors strategies like one entry point, identifying kids with mental health issues. “We’ve been trying that for 30 years, it’s not working,” Whitmer says.
Andrew Roth (Michigan Advance): .@GretchenWhitmer says “I am furious that in this country, and only this country, guns are the number one killer of our children.”
Says Dixon “supports more guns in schools.” #Election2022
Craig Mauger (Detroit News): Quite a memorable moment here. Gretchen Whitmer asks Tudor Dixon: “Do you really think books are more dangerous than guns?”
Eric Lloyd (9&10 News): MORE | @9and10News
W: Do you really think books are more dangerous than guns? Stares directly at her as she said it. Dixon is trying to distract us. We have to protect our kids.
Johnathan Cohn (HuffPost): Whitmer hammering Dixon on opposition to safe storage, other widely popular gun restrictions. Notes social media post mocking gun control. Dixon calls attack manipulative, says she favors hardening schools. Whitmer says armed guards didn’t stop Missouri killing this week.
Instead of Offering a Plan to Fix the Damn Roads, Dixon Relied on Her Old Playbook of Pushing Conspiracy Theories to Undercut Governor Whitmer’s Historic Progress
Chad Livengood (Detroit News): “We’re taking the roads all the way down to gravel and rebuilding them,” @GovWhitmer says of her $3.5 billion bond program to rebuild freeways. Whitmer emphasized that road builders are using “the right” materials.
Andrew Roth (Michigan Advance): .@TudorDixon seems to tout a conspiracy theory some Republicans have been sharing that Gov. @GretchenWhitmer is staging construction, saying Whitmer needs a plan “to actually fix the roads instead of just throwing a bunch of orange barrels out before the next election.”
Tom Jordan (WJR): Whitmer: we created office of rural development to increase broadband access to hard-to-reach communities. 10-Billion dollars in Michigan to deploy to fix infrastructure.
Governor Whitmer Defended The Life-Saving Decisions She Made at the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemic While Dixon Couldn’t Say What She Would Have Done Instead
Emily Lawler (Detroit Free Press): Neither Whitmer nor Dixon support requiring the COVID vaccine for children, they say at the debate.
Chad Livengood (Detroit News): “If she had been governor during COVID, thousands of more people would have died,” @GovWhitmer says of @TudorDixon.
Samuel Robinson (Axios Detroit): “While I was getting death threats, saving lives during COVID, my opponent was sowing conspiracy theories. She was saying that kids could get impacted, no need for masks,” Whitmer says.
Takeaway: Governor Whitmer Won the Debate
Samuel Robinson (Axios Detroit): “When she’s not scripted and on stage, she spreads conspiracy theories,” Whitmer says of Dixon in closing remarks.
Emily Lawler (Detroit Free Press): When she’s not scripted and onstage Dixon stokes violence and spreads conspiracy theories, Whitmer says.
Tony Paul (Detroit News): Tudor Dixon might’ve won the first debate, based on low expectations. Tonight, I’m not sure she offered one detailed plan, nor do I think she gave one answer without lobbing verbal grenades at Gov Whitmer. To quote Andrew Shepherd: “Is the view pretty good from the cheap seats?”
