Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder rallies for fellow Republicans in Grand Rapids on Oct. 16, 2024. | Kyle Davidson
With Election Day in 20 days, Republicans up and down the ballot gathered in Grand Rapids to rally with supporters Wednesday night, calling for a Republican comeback in Lansing and across the nation.
The event featured GOP leaders, including former Gov. Rick Snyder, who had campaigned on leading “Michigan’s comeback” and enjoyed unified GOP control during his tenure from 2011 to 2018.
He was succeeded by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. And in the 2022 election, Michigan Democrats took control of both chambers of the Legislature and retained the governorship, earning a Democratic trifecta for the first time in nearly 40 years with a slim two-vote majority in each chamber.
Snyder, state Rep. Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford) and Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra all called on Republicans to take back both the Michigan House and the U.S. Senate while expanding Republican control in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“We have to remember what all this stands for, and what are our principles: limited government. If you look at what’s going on in Lansing, government keeps expanding, they keep on making it bigger. It’s gone from $50 billion to a $80 billion budget in just the last few years,” said Snyder, who’s helping to lead the GOP House reelection effort.
“A lot of those dollars should be in your pocket to help pay for groceries, gas, everything else instead of going to Lansing,” Snyder said.
Since leaving office after being term-limited, Snyder — whose tenure was marred by the Flint water crisis — has largely stayed out of politics, although he did endorse President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump in 2020.
Republican Senate candidate and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake) converses with U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and former Gov. Rick Snyder ahead of a rally in Grand Rapids on Oct. 16, 2024. | Kyle Davidson
Kent County Clerk and Register of Deeds Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Michigan Supreme Court candidate and State Rep. Andrew Fink (R-Adams Twp.) and John Wetzel, GOP nominee for Michigan’s 84th House District, called on attendees to remember the down-ballot races.
U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) also appeared at the rally, with Capito noting her hopes of receiving a committee chair appointment should Republicans take the Senate.
Speakers rallied behind former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake), who’s running for U.S. Senate against U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), and East Grand Rapids attorney Paul Hudson, who is seeking to knock off first-term U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, made up of parts of Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon counties, including the city of Grand Rapids.
Republicans similarly blasted Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on inflation and the economy, with Rogers raising concerns about the U.S. importing more agricultural products than it exports, international auto manufacturers producing more vehicles in the U.S. than the Detroit Three — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — interest payments on the national debt exceeding U.S. Defense spending, and U.S. credit card debt surpassing $1 trillion.
“People are counting on us. They know that if Republicans win in November, we will have their back. So for the police officers who have been treated like doormats, come November, we will have their back. For the woman who has to take a grocery off the conveyor belt, and put it in the cart come Nov. 5, we’ll have her back,” Rogers said.
“For the men and women who are serving us today in the armed forces who are wondering if we can pull this off. Come November, we need to tell them, because of our hard work, we have your back,” Rogers said.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has listed three Midwest states U.S. Senate races — Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin — as “toss ups,” making each state critical in determining which party will control the chamber.
“The stakes couldn’t be higher, the choices could not be clearer,” Rogers said.
Capito and Ernst each took jabs at Democrats on electric vehicles with both speaking out against electric vehicle mandates. While Democrats have not instituted any mandate on electric vehicles, Capito pointed to new vehicle emissions standards finalized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year, with Republicans and members of the fossil fuel industry arguing these changes would be a de facto ban on gas-powered vehicles. However, policy experts told FactCheck.org automakers would have flexibility in how they meet these standards, including making gas-powered vehicles more efficient.
In addition to flipping the Senate, Ernst also emphasized the importance for Republicans to retain their majority in the House, speculating that a Democratic–controlled House would impeach former Trump should he win reelection. Trump is the only president who has been impeached twice.
Following his introduction by Ernst, Hudson pointed to Michigan’s 3rd District as “one of the true battleground seats in the entire country,” rallying supporters to help him flip the seat back for Republicans.
While the West Michigan district was long considered a conservative stronghold, redistricting efforts boosted Democrats chances in the area, with the Cook Political Report rating the seat as “likely Democrat” in favor of Scholten.
Hudson criticized Scholten for a recent ad featuring the voice of former Republican President and West Michigan native Gerald R. Ford.
“To paraphrase a famous political exchange, West Michigan knows Gerald Ford. Gerald Ford is a friend of ours, and you, ma’am, are no Gerald Ford,” Hudson said, apparently referring to the 1988 vice presidential debate when then-Sen. Lloyd Bentsen told U.S. Sen. Dan Quayle, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
“[Scholten’s] right about one thing, though, this is Gerald Ford’s district. That still means something around here. It’s a commitment to good government. It’s a commitment to serving your people, and it’s a commitment to a positive agenda of change,” Hudson said, pointing to his own “GPS plan” centered on growth, prosperity and security.
As part of this plan, Hudson called for lower taxes, less regulation and less government spending, alongside giving parents more options for schools and ensuring the U.S. is leading on the world stage.
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