Michigan is home to a whopping 10 Trump-endorsed state legislative candidates—more than any other single battleground state. As Donald Trump prepares for a rally in the state this weekend, his onslaught of endorsements has made Michigan a proving ground for his power and relevance, according to Politico, even as several of his federal-level endorsees are either tanking or have already flamed out.
For Trump to claim dominance in the key battleground state, he has to score some big wins in Michigan's primaries and general elections at a time when his currency is flagging elsewhere. Trump has already cut and run from lackluster endorsees for Senate races such as Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama, or in Pennsylvania, where his original pick left the race after losing custody of his three kids due to abuse allegations.
Meanwhile, back in Michigan, Trump's charges held a "MAGA mixer" last weekend at a Lansing bowling alley where a state House candidate bragged about getting teargassed at the Jan. 6 riot as the "highlight of my life." Good times.
Another Trump candidate, running for state Senate, noted that he had opted not to livestream his comments at the mixer after causing an uproar at the last event by encouraging GOP election monitors to "show up armed." A crackerjack, that one.
A third legislative candidate, Mick Bricker, exclaimed,“Everybody in this room ... is running to oppose the RINOs who have taken over our House and Senate in this great state of Michigan.”
Ah yes, the GOP traders in the Senate who investigated Trump's fraud claims and found zero evidence to support them.
Trump has also backed more than half a dozen Michigan congressional candidates, two of whom are aimed at unseating a pair of West Michigan Republicans who voted to impeach him over Jan. 6—Reps. Peter Meijer and Fred Upton.
Trump's effort to dismantle the state's GOP and rebuild it in his image has also prompted a more formalized and overt strategy from his acolytes there, including candidate questionnaires that require aspiring MAGAites to define "RINO" and name-check Republican elected officials who they think should be ousted for ignoring 2020 election fraud.
In some ways, Michigan's establishment Republicans have proven to be among the most resistant of those in the Rust Belt states to going all-in for Trump. But the twin congressional votes to impeach Trump and the state Senate report rejecting his fraud claims seem only to have fueled a clearer cut and more pronounced internecine battle for control of the state party. One could posit that at least some of Michigan's establishment Republicans are standing on principle, but they also may simply be reading the politics of the state more accurately.
Over the last couple of decades, the state's most dominant suburbs around Detroit in the east and Grand Rapids in the west have trended increasingly Democratic. Trump's tenure as leader of the party has only solidified that trend. In 2020, Joe Biden nearly doubled Hillary Clinton's 8-point win over Trump in Oakland County in 2016, and Biden flipped Kent County, winning it by 6 points after Trump notched a 3-point win over Clinton in 2016.
In order to properly effect a takeover of the state GOP, Trump will likely have to do more than just win a bulk of the primaries he's waded into—most of his candidates will also have to claim victory in the general election. And as some establishment Republicans have veered away from Trump's toxic brand, the GOP civil war there has become crystal clear.
“The inmates are running the asylum," said Republican Jason Watts, who was booted from his post as a local state treasurer last year after he publicly broke with Trump over COVID-19.
“It used to be a party of ideas and coming together for limited government and lower taxes and a strong national defense," Watts told the Detroit News after his ouster. "Now it’s how strongly did you support Trump."
For Trump to claim dominance in the key battleground state, he has to score some big wins in Michigan's primaries and general elections at a time when his currency is flagging elsewhere. Trump has already cut and run from lackluster endorsees for Senate races such as Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama, or in Pennsylvania, where his original pick left the race after losing custody of his three kids due to abuse allegations.
Meanwhile, back in Michigan, Trump's charges held a "MAGA mixer" last weekend at a Lansing bowling alley where a state House candidate bragged about getting teargassed at the Jan. 6 riot as the "highlight of my life." Good times.
Another Trump candidate, running for state Senate, noted that he had opted not to livestream his comments at the mixer after causing an uproar at the last event by encouraging GOP election monitors to "show up armed." A crackerjack, that one.
A third legislative candidate, Mick Bricker, exclaimed,“Everybody in this room ... is running to oppose the RINOs who have taken over our House and Senate in this great state of Michigan.”
Ah yes, the GOP traders in the Senate who investigated Trump's fraud claims and found zero evidence to support them.
Trump has also backed more than half a dozen Michigan congressional candidates, two of whom are aimed at unseating a pair of West Michigan Republicans who voted to impeach him over Jan. 6—Reps. Peter Meijer and Fred Upton.
Trump's effort to dismantle the state's GOP and rebuild it in his image has also prompted a more formalized and overt strategy from his acolytes there, including candidate questionnaires that require aspiring MAGAites to define "RINO" and name-check Republican elected officials who they think should be ousted for ignoring 2020 election fraud.
In some ways, Michigan's establishment Republicans have proven to be among the most resistant of those in the Rust Belt states to going all-in for Trump. But the twin congressional votes to impeach Trump and the state Senate report rejecting his fraud claims seem only to have fueled a clearer cut and more pronounced internecine battle for control of the state party. One could posit that at least some of Michigan's establishment Republicans are standing on principle, but they also may simply be reading the politics of the state more accurately.
Over the last couple of decades, the state's most dominant suburbs around Detroit in the east and Grand Rapids in the west have trended increasingly Democratic. Trump's tenure as leader of the party has only solidified that trend. In 2020, Joe Biden nearly doubled Hillary Clinton's 8-point win over Trump in Oakland County in 2016, and Biden flipped Kent County, winning it by 6 points after Trump notched a 3-point win over Clinton in 2016.
In order to properly effect a takeover of the state GOP, Trump will likely have to do more than just win a bulk of the primaries he's waded into—most of his candidates will also have to claim victory in the general election. And as some establishment Republicans have veered away from Trump's toxic brand, the GOP civil war there has become crystal clear.
“The inmates are running the asylum," said Republican Jason Watts, who was booted from his post as a local state treasurer last year after he publicly broke with Trump over COVID-19.
“It used to be a party of ideas and coming together for limited government and lower taxes and a strong national defense," Watts told the Detroit News after his ouster. "Now it’s how strongly did you support Trump."