Michigan Republicans gathered on Mackinac Island this past weekend for their biennial leadership conference.
On the island the skies were gray, and the horses smelled as horses do. But spirits were up. At least compared to two years ago, when infighting and relatively low attendance overshadowed the event.
Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad, who took over the party’s leadership in February, said there was a lot riding on this year.
“It went spectacular. I can’t go from one part of this conference to the other without people saying, ‘My God. You brought the party back,’” he said.
The event once was a proving ground for Republican hopefuls looking to boost their profile for things like presidential runs. This year’s conference was still down from its heyday. The party said about 1,250 attended.
Fewer than 500 participated in a straw poll to see who the party faithful liked for some of the bigger races next year. Still, Runestad said the organizing work paid off.
“I don’t know what the total’s going to be but it was hundreds of thousands [of dollars] I had to raise to put this thing on, separate from the money to run the state party. So I am just as pleased as can be. We’ll be in the black. I don’t know what the number’s going to be [but] definitely, we made money,” Runestad said.
National implications
Next year, Michigan has several positions up for grabs. That includes governor, attorney general, and secretary of state, plus an open U.S. Senate seat. Democrats currently hold all four. And Republicans would love to flip them.
KC Crosbie is co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
“Michigan is our number one priority. We will aggressively do everything we can in the state to make sure we are getting out the vote and protecting the vote,” Crosbie said during an interview on the island.
With Michigan a key prize for Republicans, some of the headline speeches came from people in President Donald Trump’s orbit.
Speaking to one of the largest convention crowds, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem discussed her work overseeing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She was asked about setbacks in a request for relief for people affected by ice storms in northern Michigan.
“Bureaucrats in Washington D.C. shouldn’t be taking up months and months and years filing applications and processes and not ever paying claims. We should deploy the dollars as soon as possible and give those local leaders the opportunity to make sure that it is spent appropriately,” Noem told a crowd at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
Taxes
Meanwhile, panel discussions throughout the weekend often repeated similar talking points like a desire to shrink government and cut taxes. That especially came up during an issues talk with several gubernatorial hopefuls like former House Speaker Tom Leonard, Pastor Ralph Rebandt, and former Attorney General Mike Cox.
“We’ve got to do something about property tax reform in this state,” Leonard said.
“People need an instant break. We can’t keep going on and on and just adjusting things here and there,” Rebandt said.
“Eliminate the income tax,” Cox said.
Unity
Aside from policies themselves, there was a large focus on unity after the shooting death of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, and on following Trump’s playbook in Michigan. For Trump’s special presidential envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, that means coalition-building like Trump did last year.
“Some people in Michigan didn’t win. They didn’t do as well as President Trump. And I think it’s because they didn’t do that broad appeal to first and second-generation Americans, Arabs, and Muslims,” Grenell said in an interview.
Another part of the coalition and unity pitch involved calls to support whichever candidates win their primary elections next year. Grenell called for that in a speech and House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp), who hasn’t endorsed any gubernatorial candidates, pledged to support the nominee during an interview Saturday.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is running as an independent candidate for governor, possibly threatening both Democratic and Republican ambitions—although Republicans are publicly saying they feel Duggan’s candidacy hurts Democrats more than themselves.
“The candidates, whoever they are that it gets narrowed down to, are going to be vigorously, at some point, debating each other, and we’re going to come up with a very viable candidate. Well tested,” Runestad said.
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