Top Political Consultant Bails on James Craig’s Disastrous Campaign As GOP Primary Gets Messier

Today, after announcing an exploratory committee and teasing a $10 million investment into the race, self-funder Kevin Rinke officially announced his campaign for governor. His announcement is a big blow to GOP insiders hand-picked candidate James Craig, and makes Michigan’s crowded right-wing primary for governor even messier.

DGA Political Director Marshall Cohen released the following statement:

“The Michigan GOP’s attempt to coronate James Craig as their #1 pick for the GOP nomination has been a massive failure — and now their chaotic primary for governor has an extreme, self-funder in the race. 

“Kevin Rinke is already preparing to buy out the race and spend millions to drag the state backwards with extreme views that will make life worse for working families. Just like the rest of the extremist GOP field, Rinke refuses to support the recently-passed bipartisan infrastructure plan — even though it will put Michiganders to work building roads, bridges and water infrastructure. 

“While the GOP candidates oppose overwhelmingly popular initiatives in order to appeal to the radical right wing of their party, Gov. Whitmer is putting Michigan first. She’s focused on fixing the damn roads and has made the largest increase in school funding in the state’s history — without raising taxes. No matter how much cash right-wing Republicans dump into this race and who crawls out of their messy primary, Gov. Whitmer’s strong leadership will remain unmatched.”