GLADSTONE, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Saturday, the 1st Congressional District Republicans held a debate for four of their party’s gubernatorial candidates.
20th District Senator Aric Nesbitt, former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, pastor and entrepreneur Ralph Rebandt, and businessman and author Perry Johnson are all vying to become Michigan’s next governor. The four Republicans met at the Terrace Bay Hotel ballroom to discuss the issues local voters care about.
The primary topic of debate was affordability. While all of the candidates agreed that costs are too high in Michigan, they had differing views on how to lower costs.
Nesbitt suggested repealing “the green new scam,” referring to current energy mandates.
“It’s industrializing hundreds of thousands of acres of farm and forestlands,” Nesbitt said. “It’s something where in the U.P., it’s unaffordable. If you were your own state, you would have the highest cost of any state in the lower 48. That’s unacceptable. Here in the U.P., I’ve always said we need to connect to the rest of the Lower Peninsula instead of being dependent on Wisconsin, that could care less about you on energy.”
Johnson proposed eliminating Michigan’s income tax, reforming the property tax, and instating an audit to cut the State’s expenses.
“We throw so much money away,” said Johnson. “It’s important to understand that just with the illegal aliens that come in, we are spending a fortune. If somebody applies for asylum, automatically, they get $500 a month supplement for their housing… We spent almost a billion a year trying to increase the speed of the Amtrak train by 10%, and we didn’t even succeed.”
In addition to eliminating the property tax, Cox suggested a change to millage ballot proposals.
“Let’s move those corrupt elections that hide local tax millages to November,” said Cox. “How about that? How many here have been jammed with a May or August millage election when no one’s paying attention? It happened in my hometown of Livonia last year. We stopped it, but they sneak it by us. I would stop that. The legislature can do that.”
Rebandt’s vision for saving Michigan and its residents money involves cutting the State budget, as well as reducing the number of organizations impacting residents and businesses.
“We’re also going to eliminate the MEDC, Michigan Economic Development Corporation,” Rebandt said. “We’re going to eliminate SOAR, we’re going to eliminate MITTEN, we’re going to eliminate EGLE… EGLE’s coming in. They’re unelected bureaucrats. They’ve sent every business almost out of the state. We only have four meat processors left in Michigan because of their unfunded mandates that they’re telling people what to do.”
The candidates also shared their opinions on how to combat workforce shortages.
Cox said the issue should be addressed in schools.
“We are indeed 48th in fourth-grade reading—the gateway skill for kids to get educated— and we are dwelling at the bottom of job creation,” Cox said. “My granddaughters go to school in Mississippi… They passed a simple law that said, ‘Every third grader should be able to read. Every kid will be taught phonics. Every kid who struggles will get a tutor… Every school will be graded so taxpayers, grandparents, and parents know how their local school system is doing.’ When you do that, you get kids on the right track. Then, when they are seventh or eighth grade… they’re prepared.”
Rebandt promoted a plan to boost the workforce while lightening the load of the prison system.
“There are people who, number one, don’t belong there,” said Rebandt. “Number two, there are people who are close to getting out… We already know what their records are. We know that they’re on good behavior; we wouldn’t put anyone out that wasn’t… Right now, it costs $55,000 a year to put somebody in prison for a year. What if we gave an employer $35,000 to hire this guy? He pays whatever else he has on top of it. We’re saving, per inmate, $20,000 a year. That will be an incredible change to the prison population, and it helps acclimate people back into society.”
Nesbitt proposed reforming welfare to ensure “able-bodied adults” are joining the workforce, as well as removing obstacles to sustaining a successful business.
“I was talking to a restaurant owner a little while ago who moved up from Ohio twelve years ago,” said Nesbitt. “… She goes, ‘I barely survived COVID, but this is my last day that I’m going to be open.” … I asked her, ‘Why is that?’ She goes, ‘The mandates, the taxes, the new labor laws coming out of Lansing. I’m shutting up and moving back to Ohio for the opportunity.’ That’s why you’ve got to repeal these mandates that Governor Whitmer and the Democrats have put into effect here in the State of Michigan. That’s why COVID can never happen again. That’s why we need to repeal the State property tax.”
Johnson said that Michigan must incentivize people to work.
“What’s the best way for that?” Johnson asked. He answered, “Eliminate the income tax… Tennessee was exactly like Michigan, losing population year after year. Businesses were vacating. Suddenly, they eliminate the income tax, and what happens? They’re booming. In fact, where did Ford build their new plant? … The company that really built Michigan, they moved it to Tennessee. We have to make it attractive for businesses… We have to reform the property tax, because I’m not going to have somebody 65 years old who owns their home and suddenly is coerced out of it because of the fact that they have no income like they had before.”
After the debate, the candidates attended a dinner and spoke with voters individually.
