John James’ Bad Week: Earns Sharp Criticism from Rivals for Skipping Primary Forums

John James’ Bad Week: Earns Sharp Criticism from Rivals for Skipping Primary Forums

John James’ rocky gubernatorial campaign, which has already earned criticism from prominent Michigan Republicans, is currently going through its worst week yet as he comes under fire for skipping the first GOP primary debate and confirming his absence for the next two Republican debates (including one in his district).

At the first GOP gubernatorial primary debate, James’ absence led to fellow candidates Mike Cox and Aric Nesbitt both calling out James, criticizing him in a long email to supporters and attacking his absence during the debate to applause – and even deploying milk cartons featuring John James as a missing person. Even the MIGOP Chair expressed disappointment in James for missing the debate.

James’ damage control only added fuel to the fire – through a spokesperson, James confirmed that he plans to skip future debates, and he attempted to distract from no-showing the debate by releasing an ad that was exposed as a desperate distraction, with the campaign putting no money into airing it on TV.

James has spent months dodging forums and refusing to take questions (even from friendly moderators) as he tries to dodge any accountability for his votes to gut Medicaid and raise health care costs. This summer, James skipped a gubernatorial candidate forum at Mackinac Island – and his absence on the trail has sparked backlash, with James repeatedly losing straw polls of GOP activists, coming in fourth in one earlier this summer.

“This has been a disastrous week for John James’ campaign. James’ attempt to run a ‘rose garden strategy’ has created a massive backlash from his own party – and only accelerated the infighting and nastiness of Michigan’s Republican gubernatorial primary,” said DGA spokesperson Kevin Donohoe.  “It seems James is willing to alienate half the Republican party in Michigan  – as long as he doesn’t have to answer basic questions about his record of gutting health care and raising costs.”

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