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Tina Sawyer: You're listening to Morning Edition on WCMU. I'm Tina Sawyer, good morning. Well, for the first time in eight years, Michigan will have a new governor. Governor Gretchen Whitmer is term limited and over a dozen candidates have jumped into the race to replace her.
WCMU reporter AJ Jones has been on campaign stops across the region and spoken to most of the candidates. So, AJ tell me about the Democrats in the race.
AJ Jones: Hi, Tina.
The front runner by far is current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. She's been leading the primary polling and fundraising. I spoke to Benson at Gretchen Whitmer's final State of the State address back in February, and Benson really pitched herself as the continuity candidate for the current Whitmer administration.
Jocelyn Benson: I'm going to continue, among other things, prioritizing health care affordability, and access in the months ahead.
AJ: In addition, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson is the other major Democratic candidate. He spoke at an event in Midland, and I was there. And he really talked about bringing people together, having bipartisan appeal. And one thing that struck me as interesting, he sharply criticized the actions of ICE in Minnesota and private prisons, and that really stood out to me because he comes from a law enforcement background.
TS: And Republicans have a number of candidates in the race, too. So, who are the ones to watch?
AJ: Well, there's a total of 10 different Republicans running to to replace Governor Whitmer. I attended a gubernatorial forum in Saginaw where four major candidates attended.
The candidates that really stick out to me so far, definitely at that forum, were former State House Leader Tom Leonard, and he's running on ideas. It's a very policy-focused campaign. He had a little book of policy ideas that he handed out to attendees. And the idea that sticks out the most to me is, he is in favor of a one-year moratorium on all data centers.
There's also State Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, very staunch conservative. When he was asked about bipartisanship, he said that he would turn Michigan into a red state.
The straw poll leader at the event, though, was Perry Johnson. He's A billionaire who's jumped into the race and is planning on spending $9 million of his own dollars on it. He wants no state income tax, and he says that decision would save Michiganders $4,747. 47.47, sort of a nod to President Donald Trump being the 47th president. He also wants a big audit of state spending.
However, the GOP front runner is conservative House Representative John James. He's run for state office twice, so he has a lot of name recognition. He's leading in fundraising, and he's also leading in the GOP polls. Former Attorney General Mike Cox is running second in a lot of polling, and he's been running a very big ad blitz.
TS: I see. And are there any other major candidates?
AJ: Well, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is running as an independent. He's been a fairly popular mayor in Detroit, the state's largest city, for 12 years. Now, this is somewhat of a curveball given he's been a Democrat his whole political career.
But at an event in Mount Pleasant that I attended last year, Duggan said, you know, that decision to run as an independent is in line with his political background. He ran a successful riding campaign to win the mayor's race in Detroit.
And Duggan has a real mix of liberal and conservative ideas. He says, he's in favor of increased police spending, bringing down crime, and, you know, really working with the business sector to attract new economic growth. That sort of owes to his record in Detroit. And he's also running a big ad blitz. I'm sure if you've been driving along the region, you've maybe seen one of his billboards. He told me at that visit last year in Mount Pleasant that he really did believe in his independent strategy.
Mike Duggan: The great majority of people in the state would like to see an independent governor. My job is to convince them that I'm the independent candidate they're looking for.
TS: So looking ahead, AJ, to the August second primary. What is the state of the race?
AJ: Well, the polls are still pretty new. There's not a whole lot of them, but we can tell from the little polling we have that things are close. What I can say definitively, based on sort of my travels and talking to voters, the voters are definitely getting a lot more engaged, such as, you know, Perry Johnson's voters at the forum in this year.
[Crowd Chanting Perry]
TS: Great. So thanks for keeping a close eye on everything, AJ.
AJ: Thank you.
