LANSING, Mich. — Crowded primary races across Michigan, including a 10-Republican contest for governor and seven incumbent members of Congress facing challengers from within their own parties, fell into place this week at the state's candidate filing deadline.
The resulting 2022 elections — the Aug. 2 primary is just over 100 days away — will be a test of whether GOP enthusiasm will push the party into power in Michigan or whether internal divisions and infighting will help leave it on the outside looking in.
“The energy is a dual-edged sword," said John Sellek, a longtime Michigan Republican political operative and CEO of the firm Harbor Strategic Public Affairs.
The large numbers of candidates in some GOP races were a sign of the potential momentum forming behind the party in the midterm election as Democrats hold the White House and Michigan's governor's office, Sellek said. But opponents, he acknowledged, will see the internal struggles as signs of chaos and craziness.
Democrats and Republicans both have high-profile primary races on the horizon this summer after Michigan's district lines were redrawn by a citizens commission.
On the Democratic side, U.S. Reps. Haley Stevens of Waterford Township and Andy Levin of Bloomfield Township are set to square off in the 11th Congressional District Democratic primary. And two current state lawmakers, Sens. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak and Marshall Bullock of Detroit, will compete in the new 8th Senate District.
Those new district lines and the stakes of this year's elections — every seat in the Legislature is on the ballot — made the Department of State office building in downtown Lansing the center of Michigan politics for a few hours Tuesday.
By 4 p.m. Tuesday, Democratic and Republican candidates for governor, the state House, the state Senate and Congress had to submit petition signatures or a filing fee, depending on which office they were seeking, to get their names on the ballot.
At about 1:30 p.m., one Republican candidate for governor, Pastor Ralph Rebandt of Farmington Hills, was leaving the building after turning in additional petition signatures, while another GOP hopeful, Ryan Kelley of Allendale, was inside submitting more signatures as well.
A few minutes later, a third Republican gubernatorial hopeful, Perry Johnson of Bloomfield Hills, arrived to file his signatures, about 23,000.
"I think it's exciting," Kelley said of the crowded field. "I do. I really think it's exciting."
Major party candidates for governor needed 15,000 valid signatures to make the primary ballot. Over the next week, other campaigns can challenge candidates' signatures. And state employees still have to examine them.
However, if the field of 10 Republican candidates holds, it will be the largest gubernatorial primary the state has experienced, according to the Lansing-based political newsletter Michigan Information & Research Service.
The winner of the primary will take on Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November as she seeks reelection. Whitmer won her first term by 9 percentage points in 2018.
GOP field for governor
In a statement earlier this week, the Michigan Republican Party described its field of primary candidates for governor as "strong and diverse."
It includes Michigan State Police Capt. Michael Brown of Stevensville, former Detroit police Chief James Craig, conservative commentator Tudor Dixon of Norton Shores and chiropractor Garrett Soldano of Mattawan as well as Johnson and businessman Kevin Rinke of Bloomfield Township.
The other candidates are Rebandt, Kelley, businesswoman Donna Brandenburg of Byron Center and financial adviser Michael Markey of Grand Haven.
"Republicans are energized, filling rooms across the state to make their voices heard and enthusiastic about firing the captain of Joe Biden’s sinking ship, Gretchen Whitmer," said Gustavo Portela, spokesman for the Michigan GOP. "Any strategist or consultant pushing the contrary will be eating their words this November."
But the Michigan Democratic Party said in its own statement the Republican filings would ensure "the field will remain messy, radical and chaotic until voters cast ballots in August."
While enthusiasm currently favors the GOP, Republicans needed a narrower field of candidates to beat Whitmer, said Adrian Hemond, CEO of the Lansing-based consulting firm Grassroots Midwest.
Hemond, who worked with Democrats in the state Legislature, noted that Whitmer continues to raise money and is focused on the general election. By the end of 2021, her campaign had about $10 million on hand.
Every day the Republicans go without a presumed nominee is longer national conservative groups will stay out of the race, Hemond said.
What's ahead for Michigan GOP?
But Jason Roe, former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, said the GOP field pointed to the influence of former President Donald Trump and the energy on the Republican side.
The party is fractured and there are many lanes for candidates to pursue, Roe said, so anybody who has ever thought about running is getting in races now, including to challenge GOP incumbents.
"I don't think incumbency is the asset it once was," Roe said. "I think Trump changed the rules in a lot of ways. An outsider candidate willing to shake things up is very appealing."
Dixon is one of the political outsiders seeking the GOP nomination for governor. She emphasized that she had turned in the most petition signatures of the Republican candidates: 29,735.
Asked about Craig describing himself as the candidate to beat in the primary, Dixon responded: "I think that he's got some stiff competition. I am pretty sure that I just handed in the highest number of signatures."
Of the 10 GOP candidates running for governor, only one, Brown, has any experience in elected office. He was once a county commissioner.
Roe said the task ahead for Michigan GOP leadership will be raising money to try to make the party competitive in the fall with Whitmer. But he noted that Johnson and Rinke could self-fund their bids.
Johnson told reporters Tuesday that he's willing to spend "whatever it takes" to win the GOP nomination.
Many primary contests
In addition to Stevens and Levin facing off, Democratic U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib has a primary race for reelection in the new 12th District with Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey and Kelly Garrett, mayor of Lathrup Village. Former state Rep. Shanelle Jackson of Detroit also said she filed to run in the race.
Four Republican members of the U.S. House had primary challengers who had filed as of Tuesday's deadline, including Rep. Peter Meijer of Grand Rapids Township, who is facing Trump-backed Republican John Gibbs.
In the Michigan Senate, two Republican incumbents are facing primary challenges from Trump-backed opponents.
Mike Detmer is taking on Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, in the 22nd District, and Jonathan Lindsey is competing with Sen. Kim LaSata, R-Niles, in the 17th District.
Republican Mellissa Carone, an outspoken critic of the 2020 presidential election, filed Tuesday against Sen. Michael MacDonald, R-Macomb Township, in the 11th District. Carone, who has not been endorsed by Trump, had been disqualified from running for the state House because of campaign finance problems with her state House committee.
Across the Senate, 10 of the 13 Republican incumbents seeking reelection had primary opponents Tuesday while eight of the 13 Democratic incumbents appeared to be in primary races.
Republicans currently control 22 of the 38 seats in the state Senate.
In the state House, the GOP won 58 of the 110 seats in the 2020 election.
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(Detroit News staff writer Melissa Nann Burke contributed to this report.)
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