In Michigan for those of us who want Gretchen Whitmer defeated, this has been a long time coming.

After what seemed to be endless snafus for the past six months, it looks like the Michigan Grand Old Party–and their candidates vying to see who will face off against Governor Gretch in November–are about ready to take off. With just 46 days until the August primary and 143 days until the November election, it is about damn time.

As my colleague Christopher Arps wrote here last week, the signature fraud knocked out some candidates (Michigan Signature Petition Fraud Is Widespread). Plus it seems the Feds decided that arrest one of the candidates running for the Jan 6th Capitol riot, as my colleague Streiff wrote here: FBI Arrests GOP Candidate for Governor of Michigan Over January 6 Misdemeanors and What That Means for 2024.

According to Streiff’s article, it seems people running for Governor on the Republican side are not the sole focus of the feds.

Last Friday, former White House trade adviser to President Trump, Peter Navarro, was arrested by federal agents as he attempted to board a plane in Nashville. The offense was a single count of contempt of Congress brought on by Navarro’s insistence, to the extent of filing a federal lawsuit against the January 6 Committee, that his conversations with President Trump were covered by executive privilege. He was led out of the airport in handcuffs and leg irons, denied communications with his lawyer, transported to DC, subjected to a strip-searched, and put in a cell. Later that day, he appeared before a federal magistrate and was released on his own recognizance—definitely a hardened criminal.

Back in Michigan, those candidates left standing are ramping up for the push leading up to August 2nd, when one of them will be chosen to take on Whitmer this November. The GOP race will tighten up as we get closer to August, and the party will need to get behind the nominee ASAP–being Whitmer is not as damaged as some of her fellow Democrats are across the country.

A poll that was talked about earlier this month in the Washington Examiner gives a brief snapshot of how odd Michigan can be.

In a mid-May survey commissioned for the Detroit Regional Chamber, President Joe Biden’s job approval rating in this key Midwestern battleground was an abysmal 36% among registered voters, with 55% disapproving. Additionally, 69% of Michigan voters said the United States is on the “wrong track,” with only 17% believing the country is on the “right track.”

Numbers like that usually portend defeat for the party in power — and Democrats are in charge, both in Washington, D.C., and in the Michigan governor’s mansion and other top state constitutional offices in Lansing. However, this May 9-13 survey also contained a bright spot for Democrats in Michigan. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s job approval rating is a respectable 49%, with 41% disapproving.

“The bad news is [Whitmer’s] party is in power, and the voters are very angry over the economy,” Richard Czuba, founder of the Lansing-based Glengariff Group, which conducted the poll, told the Detroit News.

How could the Governor of Michigan, who is a huge supporter of Joe Biden and every failed policy his White House has come up with, land at a 49 percent approval rating in this state? Like I said, my home state can be a bit odd.

That the Governor who did all these things that were written about here in the past two years is kissing 50 percent approval of any poll is mind-boggling.

Michigan Legislature Eliminates Whitmer Emergency Power Law and She Can’t Veto.

BREAKING: Complaint Filed Against Gretchen Whitmer Over Charter Jet Trip to Florida Last March

Michigan House Member Rips DOJ for Dropping Whitmer Nursing Home Investigation

Just think about this: That the Governor of the state of Michigan

• Who clearly overreacted during COVID, shut businesses down and encouraged fines for people for citizens who resisted;
• Who demanded those people who lived here shelter in their homes, while she chartered a private jet to go to Florida while her staff did similar vacations;
• Who is also being investigated by reporter Charlie LeDuff on exactly how many people died after being shoved into the nursing homes during COVID

has a shot at reelection is gross.

For those reasons listed above, it is critical that an honest debate and contest is held among those seeking the GOP nomination to find out who best represents the chance to defeat Whitmer in November. Michigan has gone backwards over the past three-and-a-half years of the Whitmer Administration; we can’t afford to continue to tread water like this.

I’m no longer a registered Republican, and declared my Independence and embraced my libertarian streak many years ago. However, for this cycle of voting for Governor in the state of Michigan, I will wholeheartedly support whomever is nominated by the GOP. For the Republican nominee to win, they will have to be to sway those like me, who are neither Republicans nor Democrats, to win the day.

I look forward just seeing what transpires over the next month-and-a-half with those hoping to defeat Whitmer in November.

I have invited all the candidates to answer the questions I have sent them and to appear on my radio show on WAAM 1600 A.M. & 92.7 F.M. in Ann Arbor Michigan. I look forward to posting those interviews here for all to listen to and let you hear what those candidates think.

After all, the Great Lakes State deserves a Governor that is greater than the one we have now–and even though the bar is pretty low now, Michigan truly deserves better.

Let’s hope that happens.