All five Republican candidates whose name will appear on the Aug. 2 ballot are scheduled to appear on the stage together for the first time since the great reshuffling Thursday at a debate in Macomb County. One candidate who is attempting to make a write-in comeback, James Craig, was not invited to participate.
Eric Castiglia, chair of the Brighter Michigan PAC, the host of the debate, said he doesn't want to be put in a position to determine which write-in campaigns are viable and which ones are not. As such, he said his group has drawn a clear line. If you qualified for the ballot, you qualified for the debate at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Royalty House in Warren. The event is sold out, but numerous media outlets, including MIRS, will be covering it. FOX2 News, WWJ Newsradio 950, The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press and the Macomb Daily also have RSVPed.
Charlie Langton of FOX 2 NEWS Detroit will moderate the one-hour debate along with Patty McMurray of 100percentfedup.com and M.L. Elrick, a Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award-winning columnist from the Detroit Free Press.
"We're proud to be working with various local media outlets and Charlie Langton of FOX 2 NEWS to present a different leadership vision for Michigan to people in Macomb County and beyond," Castiglia said in a statement. “It's clear our state is in crisis on multiple fronts and it's important for Michiganders to hear directly from our gubernatorial candidates how they will confront each of these problems head-on.”
The decision is a blow for Craig, who will not be invited to participate in the July 6 debate at WOOD-TV either. In order to qualify for that debate, candidates must be on the ballot and reach at least 5 percentage points in independent polling. That likely will knock pastor Ralph Rebandt out of that one, but a final decision on the lineup has not been announced. Tim Skubick, host of Off The Record, is moderating a debate in mid-July for public TV stations. A decision on Craig's participation has not been announced. The Scripps Company's family of TV stations are hosting another debate later in July. Who will be invited to that one also isn't clear at this point.
With former candidate Perry Johnson rejecting the write-in route for governor, the Craig campaign is putting the finishing touches on what he will do to become the GOP nominee.
His team is finalizing its social media message, which is scheduled to go up July 1. There will also be a video messaging element along with billboards. The campaign "is considering" mass mailings, but there's no final decision on that. It'll likely hinge on how much money the campaign can raise.
The aforementioned Johnson predicted his write-in effort would have cost between $15 and $18 million. It is unclear how much the Craig campaign has on hand, but it most certainly would not approach that level. The former Detroit police chief had some funding-raising challenges when he was a regular candidate but Marli Blackman, his communications director, notes he is working on that and making calls to raise the cash.
She reported that he is all in on this effort. She was asked with the departure of Johnson has any impact on Craig's effort.
"It doesn't effect this at all," she reported. "He is his own man."
She confirmed that former press secretary and campaign official Ted Goodman is no longer with the campaign.
