- For the first time in 2026 race, all Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidates shared the stage for a televised debate
- Candidates traded attacks on each other’s business records and political careers
- The winner of the Aug. 4 primary will face the Democratic nominee in the November election
SOUTHFIELD — US Rep. John James attempted to fend off a barrage of attacks Wednesday night in a Republican gubernatorial debate dominated by squabbles over political careers and business records.
With recent polling showing James leading the race, former Attorney General Mike Cox and businessman Perry Johnson went on the attack during the one-hour debate hosted by FOX 2 in Detroit.
Cox came out swinging, calling James a “nepo baby” whose family company received state tax credits but didn’t deliver promised jobs. Johnson echoed those attacks and argued that James should return the money.
Related:
- Fact check: Abdul El-Sayed, Haley Stevens clash over cash
- GOP rivals rage as John James misses governor debate
- Trump gives ‘total endorsement’ to John James
“While we’re attacking the issues, they’re going to be attacking me, because frankly, resorting to deceit and defamation is what they do, because they’re desperate,” James countered.
He added later: “These two gentlemen would troll Jesus and say he couldn’t swim because he walked on water.”
James skipped speaking to reporters after the debate because he “said everything he needed to say,” according to his campaign manager Jackson Gross. “He did not even stay to finish the job,” argued Johnson, who has criticized James for skipping previous debates and forums.
On stage, Johnson hammered on the two tentpoles of his campaign: eliminating the state income tax and conducting what he calls a ”MEGA audit” of state government, asserting those two policies will unlock explosive economic growth in Michigan.
James touted his relationship with — and endorsement from — President Donald Trump, who recently endorsed him, saying he would “pick up the phone” and “call the president” to get additional federal funding flowing into Michigan.
Cox touted his ability to win statewide elections, a dig at James, and noted he was the first candidate in the race to propose eliminating the state’s personal income tax.
The candidates will convene for another debate Thursday night in Grand Rapids. Absentee ballots were mailed to voters late last month, and the primary election is Aug. 4.
Watch full video of the debate here, or read on for the facts.
‘Magic numbers’ on savings
Michigan’s 4.25% income tax generated about $13.5 billion in revenue for the state last fiscal year, and experts say eliminating or scaling back that tax would force significant spending cuts.
James has proposed gradual income tax cuts and said Wednesday he has “already identified $3 billion to return directly to the people in the first year” if he is elected governor.
Johnson suggested his proposed audit could pay for full elimination of the income tax, but James alleged his rival “came up with magic numbers that he admitted came from ChatGPT.”
Johnson retorted: “That’s stupid!”
The facts: The $3 billion in savings James claims to have already identified include figures that do not reflect the current state budget or fiscal picture.
A major part of James’ promised savings is $1.5 billion in “pet projects and earmarks,” which he said he would cancel. Governors can’t unilaterally cancel state funding without buy-in from the Legislature, and lawmakers only included about $125 million worth of earmarks in next year’s budget.
Johnson, meanwhile, continues to exaggerate the potential savings of his income tax elimination plan. He repeatedly claimed the average family of four would save $4,747 a year. But previous reporting by Bridge Michigan has shown the actual savings would likely be about 30% than Johnson claimed.
James’ claim that Johnson used ChatGPT to come up with those figures appears to reference comments Johnson made in March. In an interview on the MichMash podcast, Johnson claimed “I got the number directly from the statistics — you know, statistics vary,” when asked how he arrived at $4,747.
“Just ChatGPT, ask the median income for a household of four in the state of Michigan, and they will tell you, and you’ll come up with that number,” Johnson said, later adding “So that’s how I came up with it. … you have Google and you have ChatGPT, and they’ll have similar numbers.”
It’s not clear whether Johnson was referring to “the statistics” or using ChatGPT for the source behind his campaign’s central promise, but when asked by moderator Roop Raj if James’ assertion was true, Johnson replied “no.”
Cox touts electability
James and Cox also traded barbs over their ability to win general elections in Michigan, a purple state that is often decided by independent voters.
“We need a winner, someone who can beat Democrats statewide. I’m the only one running who’s actually done that before,” said Cox, arguing James “squandered” Trump endorsements in his past campaigns by twice losing campaigns for US Senate.
James fired back: “Mike Cox hasn’t won an election since goodness before the iPhone was invented, and the last election that he ran statewide, he came in a distant third place.”
The facts: Cox is correct that he’s the only candidate in the race to have won a statewide election, and James is correct that Cox did so before the first iPhone was released in 2007.
In 2002, Cox narrowly defeated Democrat Gary Peters by 5,200 votes, a margin of .17 percentage points in a race decided by nearly 3 million voters — and one in which Democrat Jennifer Granholm won the gubernatorial election. Four years later, Cox won reelection by a more comfortable margin of roughly 10 points.
As James noted, Cox lost his next campaign. He ran for governor in 2010 but lost in the Republican primary, finishing third to eventual Gov. Rick Snyder.
Johnson never made a ballot as a political candidate despite trying to run for governor in 2022 and for president in 2024.
James, meanwhile, has lost the only two statewide races he’s competed in. He lost to US Sen. Debbie Stabenow by 6.5 points in 2018 and narrowly lost another Senate bid to Peters by less than 2 points in 2020. He first won election to the US House in 2022 and was reelected in 2024 — putting his overall record at 2-for-4.
Chinese business claims
“Congressman James, while he’s been a congressman, has imported 920 shipments from Japan of auto parts that are made here in Michigan across the Midwest,” Cox said. “He did it to put profits over people.”
Cox has attacked James in an ad and with a website alleging the James Group, the logistics company founded by his father, was aiding China’s economy by handling imports of auto parts from that country.
Pool photos from the debate appeared to show Cox had “John James made in China” written on his hand. But he later denied having debate notes on his hand, saying “My assistant gave me some stuff, she wanted me to order — or she wanted to buy — and I wrote it on my hand because I was walking out of the office.”
At the same time, James attacked Johnson for ownership of a company called Perry Johnson Outsourcing, and claimed “he’s not funding his campaign, you are, from the billions that he made shipping your jobs over to China and Mexico.”
The facts: Bridge Michigan was not able to independently verify private ImportGenius records cited by the Cox campaign, which asserts they show significant imports from Renaissance Global Logistics between 2022 and 2026.
The Detroit Free Press and PolitiFact reviewed Democratic claims about James’ ties to China in 2020 and reported that his firm does make shipments to China and also “appears to handle goods from China.”
In Wednesday night’s debate, James said the company works for Ford Motor Company and General Motors. “Our company focuses on exporting parts, so we keep our jobs here,” he said.
James stepped down from Renaissance Global Logistics before taking office in 2023.
Johnson, meanwhile, defended his Perry Johnson Outsourcing firm as “a company that exists solely in India for India.” He claimed he “never outsourced one person ever.” Business records in India show the presence of that company, and no similarly named firm in the US, but Bridge could not independently verify the claim that Johnson had never outsourced a job.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under our Republication Guidelines. Questions? Email republishing@bridgemi.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.