(Source: MIRS.news - Published 07/14/2022) After a ballot disqualification, ex-GOP gubernatorial candidate Michael Markey Jr. isn't disappearing from this year's election scene.
The West Michigan financial advisor recently formed the Save Michigan PAC and is backing still-to-be-disclosed political candidates with as much as $300,000 of his own money.
According to Markey, the Save Michigan PAC was designed to get behind candidates with "creative" and "innovative" plans for making Michigan a more economically attractive state, as well as capable of combating the pain of record-high inflation through state-level means.
"I can tell you what side of the aisle they're on," he said, saying "all of the above" when asked if he'll be supporting state House, state Senate or gubernatorial candidates.
He doesn't have any endorsements, yet, but he did say the candidates would need to have "a viability of winning in November."
Markey entered the once 10-person arena to be the Republican pick for governor as the "finance guy." He sidestepped the wave of "Trump Won" Republicans, going on the record that he did not believe former President Donald TRUMP won the November 2020 election.
However, he was removed from the August 2022 ballot after the state's Bureau of Elections detected a significant amount of invalid signatures on his candidate petition – previous candidates Perry Johnson, the Oakland County millionaire; Michigan State Police Capt. Michael Brown, "American First" business owner Donna Brandenburg and current write-in candidate James CRAIG experienced the same fate.
Markey's Save Michigan Political Action Committee (PAC) was formed on July 5, and today, Markey told MIRS he'd be willing to place up to $300,000 of his own money into the account and willing to have a conversation if more is needed.
"Listen, we're going to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars – we're going to be in that neighborhood. If we need more, we'll put more in…" Markey said.
However, when asked how much money he's invested into the PAC since the idea sprouted in his head, Markey said "I'll answer it this way. I'm going to put whatever I need to."
"I'm going out to business leaders across the state," he said, adding he'll also be calling on contacts nationally. “We're gonna make an even bigger impact in November, and we're going to make sure that we get the right leaders.”
Asked if the PAC's "Save Michigan" name was directly inspired by the Save America movement from Trump's corner, Markey said because the past president didn't trademark "save every state," it was the "cheapest way for name recognition."
"As a disruptor and a business leader, you look for what's the cheapest way to buy equity," he said. "There's automatic name recognition with 'Save Michigan,' and so it lowers your cost for advertising. It allows more of the money we raised, and more of the money that I put in, to go behind candidates so that we can win in August and November."
