MT. PLEASANT — Michigan Republicans presented a unified strategy and talking points for the November election at an Aug. 22 nominating convention, attacking Democrats as extremists who have failed to improve state education and roads and as responsible for costly and unreliable electricity and unaffordable auto insurance.
Convention speakers emphasized the former Democratic trifecta in Lansing, from 2023 through 2024, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's 2018 pledge to "fix the damn roads," isolated incidents of non-citizens voting in Michigan, and continuing Democratic control of the Michigan Senate, Michigan Supreme Court and both of Michigan's U.S. Senate seats.
"We are going to make sure the people of Michigan understand who drove us into the ground,"
said state Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, who was formally nominated as the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, running with U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, the GOP candidate for governor.
But one name was barely mentioned at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant as Republicans pivoted from the Aug. 4 primary to the Nov. 3 general election.
President Donald Trump.
None of the party's candidates mentioned Trump in their convention speeches.
Not James. Not former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, the party's candidate for U.S. Senate. Not Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd, the party's nominee for attorney general. And not Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, the party's candidate for secretary of state.
In fact, the convention had been underway for an hour and 40 minutes before any speaker mentioned Trump's name from the lectern.
That's when longtime party activist Norm Shinkle briefly took the microphone to say: "We thank God that Donald Trump is president."
Shinkle's statement drew applause and he expressed skepticism when later told by a reporter that he was the first convention speaker to mention Trump.
Trump, during an Aug. 21 appearance in South Carolina, told voters to "pretend, please, that I am on the ballot," saying that to do so will improve Republican turnout and performance.
But with many recent polls showing Trump's approval ratings below 35%, GOP convention speakers in Mt. Pleasant did not appear to have embraced that idea.
A pre-recorded video shown to the convention about the work of House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, referenced Trump three times. But Hall, who addressed the convention immediately after the video was shown, didn't speak Trump's name, either.
Forlini, asked after the convention why he didn't mention Trump in his convention speech, said: "I'm running for secretary of state." Rogers and James did not hold media availabilities at the end of the convention.
Also not mentioned: Trump's tariff policies, the ongoing military conflict in Iran, and a federal debt that just topped $40 trillion.
Asked why neither he nor any of the candidates mentioned Trump, Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, the state party chairman, pointed to Michigan’s poor performance on student testing and the condition of Michigan roads. “We can’t do anything about what’s happening at the national level,” Runestad said. “We need to be focused on what we can do here on the state of Michigan.”
Rogers delivered a lengthy attack on the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, former Wayne County health director El-Sayed, describing him as an extremist whose rhetoric is contributing to antisemitic attacks.
"The only job Abdul really created was paying people to delete his tweets and podcasts," Rogers told the crowd.
James noted that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee for governor, has endorsed El-Sayed.
"This isn't just about winning this election; this is about saving our republic," James said.
Michigan Democrats said in a news release they launched a mobile billboard truck in Mt. Pleasant Aug. 22 attacking James and DeBoyer as protective of pedophiles.
They cited DeBoyer's refusal, as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, to open an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's connections to the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and the fact that James did not sign a Republican-led petition in Congress to release the Epstein files.
“John James and Jay DeBoyer would rather protect pedophiles like Jeffrey Epstein than fight for Michigan families,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said in the news release.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump barely mentioned at Michigan GOP nominating convention
