Convention Nominates DeBoyer

Michigan Republicans convened at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant on Aug. 22 to formally nominate their ticket for the November general election. Delegates backed U.S. Rep. John James' choice of state Rep. Jay DeBoyer as his running mate for lieutenant governor, without challenge, as reported by M Live Michigan. James had announced his pick earlier in the month after defeating businessman Perry Johnson in the Aug. 4 primary with just over 50% of the vote.

In his address to delegates, DeBoyer said, "I will not back down. I will not run scared. And I will fight on a daily basis for the conservative principles that we so dearly stand for." He added that "Conservatism is back," according to M Live's report. DeBoyer cited roads, infrastructure, public safety, and education as areas where GOP leadership would improve the state's standing.

The general election will pit James against Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Benson has announced her running mate, state Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, with the Democratic convention scheduled for Aug. 29.

DeBoyer's Background and Priorities

DeBoyer, in his second term in the state House after first being elected in November 2022, serves as chair of the House Oversight Committee and associate speaker pro tempore. He spent 12 years as a clerk and register of deeds for St. Clair County and has been a small business owner since 1994.

In his oversight role, DeBoyer subpoenaed Benson's Department of State for training documents on how local clerks are trained to administer elections. M Live notes that the Michigan Department of Justice has not complied with the subpoena, and the court case has been ongoing for 14 months. DeBoyer criticized Benson for what he described as "obstructed," "stonewalled" attempts at investigation, as quoted by M Live.

James praised DeBoyer's credentials, using an Apache helicopter analogy to describe the ticket, and the pair propose to cut government waste, eliminate Michigan's income tax, support police and first responders, put parents in charge of education, and lower energy costs.

Convention Strategy: State Over Nation

Convention speakers largely aimed their fire at Democrats, attacking them as extremists and charging them with failures on education, roads, electricity, and auto insurance. As the Detroit Free Press reported, speakers emphasized the former Democratic trifecta in Lansing, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's 2018 pledge to "fix the damn roads," and incidents of non-citizens voting.

But one name was barely mentioned: President Donald Trump. None of party's candidates mentioned Trump in their speeches, according to the Free Press. The convention had been underway for an hour and 40 minutes before any speaker mentioned Trump's name. That speaker was Norm Shinkle, who briefly took the microphone to say, "We thank God that Donald Trump is president." Shinkle expressed skepticism when told he was the first to mention the former president.

Trump, the day before the convention on Aug. 21, had told voters in South Carolina to "pretend, please, that I am on the ballot." Recent polls show Trump's approval rating below 35%, a factor that may explain the reticence.

The avoidance of Trump by name extended even to who was introduced in a pre-recorded video about speaker Matt Hall's work, which referenced Trump three times, but Hall himself did not say the name.

When asked why he didn't mention Trump in his speech, Anthony Forlini, the Republican candidate for secretary of state, answered, "I'm running for secretary of state." State Sen. Mike Runestad said the party's focus was on state issues because "We can't do anything about what's happening at the national level."

Democrats Counter

Democrats were not idle. The Michigan Democratic Party launched a billboard truck in Mt. Pleasant attacking James and DeBoyer, tying them to protection of pedophiles. The truck cited DeBoyer's refusal to open an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's connections to the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and James's not signing a petition to release Epstein files. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel responded to the billboard, saying, "John James and Jay DeBoyer would rather protect pedophiles like Jeffrey Epstein than fight for Michigan families."

Meanwhile, Mike Rogers, the GOP's U.S. Senate candidate, attacked Democrat Abdul El-Sayed as an "extremist contributing to antisemitism," and said, "The only job Abdul really created was paying people to delete his tweets and podcasts." James separately noted that Benson had endorsed Elsayyad.

Some Republican candidates did not engage in personal attacks on the national stage, while the convention's focus on state issues marked a strategic pivot away from Trump, as the Free Press's analysis highlighted. The Detroit Free Press reported that Donald Trump's approval rating in recent polls stands below 35%, suggesting that the party's decision to sidestep him may be a calculated one, though candidates publicly pointed to the limits of state-level action.

Perspectives

  • Michigan Republican Party: Emphasized a state-focused strategy, kept Trump at arm's length, and presented a unified ticket criticizing Democratic policies.