LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Republican Party declared conservative commentator Tudor Dixon the winner of the GOP primary race for governor Tuesday night.
In a tweet shortly after 9 p.m., the party described her as "our gubernatorial candidate and the next governor of our state." Dixon, who won a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump, had gained momentum going into Election Day and built a lead in early returns.
With about 15% of the expected vote in the Republican contest counted, Dixon had 42% of the vote. Businessman Kevin Rinke of Bloomfield Township had 20%, chiropractor Garrett Soldano of Mattawan had 19%, real estate broker Ryan Kelley of Allendale had 15%, and Pastor Ralph Rebandt of Farmington Hills had about 4%.
The winner of the primary election will face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November. If Dixon's lead holds, she'll become Michigan Republicans' first female nominee for governor and boast support from competing wings of the GOP.
Dixon of Norton Shores and her supporters have argued that she gives Republicans in the battleground state their best chance to unseat Whitmer. A breast cancer survivor and mother of four, Dixon has built a coalition of supporters that includes the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Police Officers Association of Michigan and Right to Life of Michigan.
"I don't want to see Whitmer get back in," said Linda Milder, a GOP voter who cast her ballot in the Jackson County village of Springport on Tuesday afternoon. "And I want to make sure that (we get) somebody (who) knows what they're doing."
Milder said she voted for Dixon because she views her as being the strongest GOP candidate against Whitmer. Trump's endorsement was a factor in her decision but wasn't the only consideration, Milder added.
Tudor Dixon's campaign for the Republican nomination for governor was buoyed by major endorsements by former President Donald Trump, the wealthy DeVos family of West Michigan, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the anti-abortion group Right to Life of Michigan.
Dixon was also leading in the initial returns out of Oakland County, where Rinke is from. But there were many more votes to be counted across Michigan.
The GOP candidates walked a long, winding path to Tuesday's primary election that featured eight debates, five other opponents being disqualified from the ballot in May and Kelley getting arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Businessman Kevin Rinke of Bloomfield Hills poured $10 million of his personal fortune into his bid for the Republican nomination for governor.
Kelley and Soldano emphasized their grassroots support and activism against Whitmer's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rinke, who loaned his campaign for governor $10 million, touted his experience as a business leader. His family has a long history of running auto dealerships in Metro Detroit.
Judy Rogers, a homemaker from Rochester Hills, was among those who voted for Rinke on Tuesday.
"I really feel like the last administration is all about spending, but spending what we don't have," Rogers said. "And I think a lot of this led to inflation, so I'd like to see more of a common sense business approach to what's going on."
'She can do it'
Jan and Kip Laughlin, a married couple from Springport, voiced their support for Dixon after they cast ballots.
Standing outside the village clerk's office, the Laughlins said they were frustrated with Whitmer's performance in the state's top job.
"Our governor is ..." Kip began. Then, Jan interjected, " ... an idiot."
Of Dixon, Kip Laughlin, a U.S. Marine Corps. veteran who served in the 1960s, said, "She's a strong public speaker. I think she can do it."
Dixon launched her campaign for governor in May 2021. Before becoming a candidate, she worked in conservative media and had started Lumen Student News, which offered conservative news programs for middle school and high school students. She moved to west Michigan with her family from Illinois in 2002 when her father, Vaughn Makary, bought a foundry in the region and launched Michigan Steel.
On the campaign trail, she called for giving parents a larger say in how their children are educated at schools and for easing regulations to improve the state's business environment.
Dixon gained the support of well-known GOP consultants and operatives, some of whom had close ties to Trump, including Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for the former president,, and Susie Wiles, who advises Trump.
Trump endorsed Dixon on Friday, four days before the primary election.
"When I met Tudor Dixon, she was not well known, but I could tell she had something very special — it was a quality that few others have," Trump said in his endorsement statement.
Trump's influence
But Dixon's primary opponents have criticized her ties to the "establishment" wing of the GOP, including west Michigan's DeVos family, who contributed $1 million to a political action committee that aired TV ads promoting her.
Rinke ran his own commercials, saying Dixon was "bankrolled" by Trump opponents, referring to Trump's former education secretary, Betsy DeVos.
Betsy DeVos resigned from Trump's Cabinet a day after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol when Trump supporters tried to disrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory. DeVos has since acknowledged that she discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment with other Cabinet members to remove Trump before his term ended, according to CNN.
Kelley, Rinke and Soldano had asked Trump to stay out of the primary race.
As a longtime businessman, Rinke had a more conventional biography for a statewide candidate than his primary competitors did: a lengthy career and a family name that's somewhat known in the most populated area of Michigan.
He has attempted to balance his desire to appeal to moderate primary voters with the influence of the former president's supporters. Rinke's remarks on the campaign trail have focused on economic policy, but one of the main TV ads he sponsored featured a zombie wearing voting stickers.
"Why is it that dead people always vote Democrat?" Rinke said at the beginning of the ad, which was released on June 2.
The ad, which touched on conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, drew criticism. Rinke had previously said he hadn't "seen anything that would indicate there was fraud" in the last election. The ad was meant to be "tongue in cheek," Rinke argued.
The road to Tuesday
While Rinke said the state needed a businessman to lead it, Kelley said Michigan Republicans needed a "fighter."
Kelley gained attention as an activist, criticizing COVID-19 restrictions and protesting the results of the presidential election. When he was arrested on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, he gained the national spotlight and accused authorities of trying to silence him.
He struggled to raise the money required to run a statewide campaign. As of July 17, his campaign had reported raising $306,673.
Kelley and Soldano courted many of the same voters in the primary race. Soldano gained prominence in GOP circles in 2020 and 2021 by speaking out against Whitmer's COVID-19 policies on Facebook.
Soldano, a former football star at Western Michigan University, raised more money than Kelley did, relying on small-dollar contributions. But he still didn't have the financial backing that Dixon and Rinke did in the final months of the race.
During a debate in Rochester on July 20, Soldano targeted Dixon, saying his "definition of establishment is basically" Dixon's "entire campaign."
Dixon, Kelley, Rebandt, Rinke and Soldano likely benefited from five other GOP candidates being disqualified from the ballot in May because of a wave of fraudulent petition signatures.
Those tossed from the primary ballot included businessman Perry Johnson, who spent $7 million to promote his campaign, and former Detroit police Chief James Craig, who was once viewed as the front runner.
Craig launched a write-in campaign for the GOP nomination.
As for Whitmer, she was unopposed in Tuesday's Democratic primary. She is a former state lawmaker who won her first term as Michigan's governor in November 2018, defeating then-Attorney General Bill Schuette, by 9 percentage points.
She'll have a significant financial advantage to begin the general election race. As of July 17, her campaign had $14.7 million available to spend.
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Staff Writers Kalea Hall and Beth LeBlanc contributed to this story.
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