- Four of five Michigan GOP gubernatorial hopefuls sparred Thursday in an Oakland County debate
- To the chagrin of his campaign, organizers left an empty podium on stage for US Rep. John James, who was in Congress for votes
- Republicans rivals criticized James and COVID-19 policies under term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
AUBURN HILLS — Four candidates and five podiums shared the stage Thursday night at the Oakland County Republican Party’s gubernatorial forum, as rivals took shots at the absent frontrunner, US Rep. John James.
“We have an empty podium for an empty suit who thinks he’s entitled and won’t be here to earn your vote,” former Attorney General Mike Cox said in his opening remarks.
James spent much of his day at the US Capitol, where he voted on the latest farm bill and legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security, ending the longest partial government shutdown in US history.
But that didn’t stop candidates on stage in Auburn Hills from criticizing him for missing a debate hosted by one of the largest and most active county parties in the state.
“I’m running for governor so that everybody can make it in Michigan. John James can’t even make it to Michigan,” said Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt.
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Nesbitt and Cox were joined on stage by businessman Perry Johnson and pastor Ralph Rebandt. The candidates sparred on a variety of questions, including how they’d handle a future pandemic, ideas for lowering electricity rates and whether they would address contaminated soil in Detroit under former Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for governor as an independent.
When moderator Charlie Langton asked the candidates if they would support James if he became the nominee, the crowd booed loudly, though all candidates said they would support any Republican nominee.
James, who represents much of Macomb County and a small piece of Oakland County in Congress, has taken flack from some Republicans for his decision to skip nearly all multi-candidate events he’s been invited to.
That included a bipartisan forum held last week by the Michigan Press Association, which Duggan and Democrat Jocelyn Benson also skipped. All three attended an economic development event earlier this year where they did not have to share a stage.
James’ campaign has said he’ll wait until the primary field is settled — candidate signatures submitted last week have not yet been certified by the state — and that he plans to attend two July debates televised by WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids and Fox 2 Detroit.
COVID response
James was frequently mentioned in the debate, but he was not the only target, as several Republicans criticized term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked how he would handle a future pandemic, Johnson did not directly answer the question, but he said the Whitmer administration’s decision to move some COVID patients into nursing homes during the pandemic “increased the probability” that elderly residents “were going to die.”
“That had to be the single stupidest thing in the world,” Johnson said.
Rebandt said his administration would “investigate Whitmer and the decisions that were made” during the pandemic. “We will prosecute anyone who’s involved with the screw up.”
Johnson interjected, saying “it was manslaughter.”
Tax cut plans
Most GOP candidates vying for governor have proposed eliminating the state’s 4.25% personal income tax, which generates more than $13 billion a year in revenue to fund state government.
Asked how they’d make up for that budget shortfall, no candidates offered a full plan, and Nesbitt challenged the premise of the question.
“The first problem with the question, it’s not how much money stays in your pocket, it’s how much money stays in Lansing’s pocket,” he said. “That is wrong. We need to look at it the other way.
Johnson promised an extensive audit of state government, which drew an incredulous response from co-moderator Charlie LeDuff.
“Audit shmawdit,” LeDuff said. “I never heard of offering people a cut before you did the audit. That’s just simple math.”
Rebandt, meanwhile, said that eliminating the property tax is a plan that “benefits the wealthy.”
He would prioritize eliminating property taxes, he said, because that “helps everybody.”
‘We’re just disappointed’
Citing scheduling uncertainties that were ultimately warranted by his votes in Congress, James’ campaign had long been noncommittal about the Oakland County debate.
That provoked some resentment from County Chair Vance Patrick, and the party had included James’ face — covered in question marks — on flyers for the event, alongside pictures of the other candidates.
“There’s a lot of people in the building right now that have been door knocking and supporters in the past (for James),” Patrick told Bridge Michigan. “We’re in Oakland County, that’s part of his district, and we’re just disappointed.”
Campaign manager Jackson Gross said on social media that James’ team had repeatedly asked Patrick to remove any mention of the candidate from materials related to the event and called it “very dishonest” for Vance to promote the event with a picture that included James’ name on a podium.
“John is in session passing President Trump’s agenda with votes throughout the day,” Gross wrote.
But Patrick stood by his pledge to have a podium on stage for James, whether or not he attended. That didn’t sit well with everyone at the event.
“I think they probably should have removed (the podium),” said Sen. Michael Webber, a Republican who represents some of the same territory as James. He noted James was doing the job he had been elected to do by attending votes in Washington, DC.
James does have the most missed votes among Michigan’s congressional delegation, according to a tally by The Detroit News, however.
And Webber thinks James should show up to more events.
“I think he should be doing more debates,” Webber said. “People want to see him. People want to hear his vision for the state, and I’m looking forward to the debates that he participates in.”
The political consequences for not participating in forums or debates might be minimal, said David Forsmark, a longtime Republican consultant based in Oakland County. Outside of presidential races, he said he’s not seen a debate significantly shift an election.
At party-hosted events months before an election, “there are like six people in the audience not affiliated (with a campaign) and four people watching the stream who are undecided,” he said.
Greg Davis, who attended Thursday night’s Oakland County debate, said he was swayed by the event and left with a new favorite in the GOP primary.
“There was a candidate I thought would have been my favorite, but my mind was changed,” he told Bridge. “I’m not going to say who.”
Another, precinct delegate Mark Gjokaj of Warren, said he thought James should have shown up, but understood the importance of votes in Congress.
“Maybe he had to go because he missed so many other voting opportunities,” Gjokaj said.
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