Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidates spar over taxes, economy in debate
Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, businessman Perry Johnson, former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox and the Rev. Ralph Rebandt took the stage Thursday night in a debate hosted by the Oakland County Republican Party.
It was the first debate since the April 21 filing deadline for the Michigan governor's seat. Five GOP candidates were invited to participate; however, U.S. Congressman and gubernatorial candidate John James did not attend, something that the other four noted during the debate.
The debate took place at Visioneering, a manufacturing company in Auburn Hills that specializes in the aerospace and defense industries.
"The reason why we're here at Visioneering in Auburn Hills is because of the fact that Michigan needs manufacturing," said Vance Patrick, chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party.
Nesbitt was the first Republican to announce his candidacy for governor in January of last year, and the former farmer said he is a hard worker who will fight for constitutional liberties and free-market economics.
"We gotta repeal the green new scam, I'm a farmboy, and no one is going to outwork me. We got to take a flame thrower to the bureaucracy and red tape that's up in Michigan, and we gotta make sure that our kids can make it here. Get the wokeness and DEI junk out of our schools and make sure that we bring trades back into our high schools so that everybody can make it here in the state of Michigan," Nesbitt told CBS News Detroit.
Johnson says that his business experience brought quality and efficiency to help save the auto industry, and that same experience can help run the state.
"We want to become an efficient operation in Michigan so that we could eliminate the income tax and reform the property tax, and the only way we're gonna be able to do that is if we cut expenses. I spent my entire life bringing quality and efficiency to companies; that is my profession," said Johnson.
Cox won two terms as Michigan attorney general in 2002 and 2006, and he cited those elections as proof that he can win a statewide race. His work included helping homeowners renegotiate or secure new loans after the 2009 recession, and he continued to support eliminating Michigan's income tax.
"Kids are going to keep leaving, and families are going to keep leaving until we eliminate the income tax and we fix the schools here in Michigan. I win, and I do big things. I walk the walk, I don't talk the talk," said Cox.
Rebandt has served as the senior pastor of Oakland Hills Community Church in Farmington Hills and as a chaplain of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. He tells CBS Detroit that his outsider status should appeal to voters.
"I'm an outsider with moral courage, everybody else has ties to the inside, they gotta call their buddies, they've gotta call DTE before they sign a bill. I don't have that. I'm not emboldened to anyone in Lansing. I'm not going there to make friends," said Rebandt.
