OVER AND OUT?
With time running out until Election Day, Republican gubernatorial candidate John James has lost national funding support and has been focusing on building “word of mouth” support at campaign stops and social media to get his message out. Along with that messaging comes numerous reports that James, who currently represents the U.S. House district for southern Macomb County, along with Rochester and Rochester Hills, but chose not to run again to aim for the governor’s mansion, has scrubbed a lot of his website and socials of any signs of President Donald Trump, including a picture of the prez on the website home page. James has notably aligned himself with Trump in two failed senate campaigns, in 2018 and 2020, and in both congressional campaigns, as well as gaining his endorsement for this campaign. As for the loss of financial backing, the Republican Governors Association in recent weeks has pulled out funding, which observers say is a sign of lost confidence in the chance of a victory for James, although the party was scrambling and may have found donations to replace the loss. According to a Republican insider, “James never had a shot,” noting the Republican base in Michigan was not a fan of his. As for the DeVos family, which has provided significant ($5 million and counting) seed money to James, and understands that down ballot will likely go Democratic as well, the insider said, at this point “they just trying to keep the state House.” His Democratic opponent, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, has a decided financial advantage, according to The Detroit News which cited the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. So far, Benson has spent or reserved almost $38 million in advertising while James has reserved or spent just over $19 million – half of Benson’s splurge. According to polling, Benson is leading James by anywhere from five to 12 percentage points, depending on the poll. The New York Times/Sienna University poll has Benson up by six points; Marist University has her leading by 12; Mitchell Research & Communications has her up by seven points. While Michigan has a long history of rotating Republicans and Democrats every eight years for governor, no polls or pundits are currently giving James even the hint of a lead. Word is Benson is already measuring the office curtains, as the saying goes, and is planning what her administration would look like, preparing her transition team, with former state Senator (and Minority Leader) Jim Ananich (D-Flint) leading the transition and meeting with potential members of her cabinet and future department heads.
John James Jocelyn Benson