Michigan Information & Research Service Inc.
Michigan Information & Research Service Inc.

Guns In Schools, Roads, Trump Highlight GOP's Third Debate

06/03/22 10:19 AM By Team MIRS

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/02/2022) (MACKINAC ISLAND) – The latest GOP gubernatorial debate wrapped up in less than one hour, challenging candidates to speak to a crowd more politically mixed and economically focused than the MAGA brigade they spoke in front of in the prior two.

 

Thursday’s debate featured former steel industry professional Tudor Dixon, previous auto sales owner Kevin Rinke, Farmington Hills pastor Ralph Rebandt and anti-lockdown activist Garrett Soldano. The event was part of the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference, where the theme was: "civility still lives here."

 

While candidates were asked if they would accept the August and November 2022 election results in relation to the election integrity movement, they were additionally asked about historically large state budgets and about school safety reform in light of the Texas school shooting at Robb Elementary School.

 

Moderator Rick Pluta, the senior capitol correspondent for Michigan Public Radio, also bluntly asked the candidates: "Have you asked President (Donald) Trump for his endorsement, and if you have not heard back, why do you think that is?"

 

"I've sat down with President Trump several times and we have talked about his focus on Michigan. As you know, he is very focused on Michigan," Dixon said. "He's watching it closely – I know that for a fact."

 

Dixon is fresh off of receiving endorsements from the DeVos family – known heavily in Michigan for their conservative influence and hefty campaign contributions – and Right to Life of Michigan. Meanwhile Rebandt was endorsed by Mike Lindell of the My Pillow company, who holds tremendous popularity within Trump's fanbase.

 

Rinke, on the other hand, said "Michigan is a purple state, and this is going to be a tough election."

 

"...And it's going to be decided by people who have traditionally struggled with President Trump. I voted for him twice. I support the man. I think he did great things for our country. I'm taking an approach like (Virginia Gov.) Glenn Youngkin did, to win Michigan for the Republican Party and President Trump showed tremendous restraint and appropriately endorsed Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin at the right time," Rinke said.

 

Youngkin flipped Virginia in Fall 2021 after Trump lost to now-President Joe BIDEN in November 2020. Trump announced his endorsement of Youngkin after his primary competitor conceded.

 

When asked about cutting the state budget and if the candidates wanted to curb government spending, ReBandt said he would eliminate the general budget, get rid of corporate welfare, have more than 1,000 administrators retire and ask potential appointees if they would cut their budget by 10% as part of a vetting process.

 

Soldano said he would also cut funds from Michigan's public universities.

 

Meanwhile, Dixon used the opportunity to urge for seeking out “our return on investment” when it comes to large-scale K-12 appropriations, adding that it is time to look at what the state is getting out of its public education budget “and find out where we can cut and where we can have actual change in this in the state.”

 

Rinke paraded his ambition to strip Michigan's 4.25% income tax entirely, saying he would give $12 billion back to residents “because I believe you know how to spend it better than government.”

 

Other questions included:

 

Question from political reporter Rick Albin of WOOD-TV 8: "What should be done to secure our schools and does that involve some type of regulation on guns, possession or storage? What measures might you as a governor work on with the Legislature to ensure schools are safe places for children to learn?"

 

DIXON: "Our schools right now are a soft target. We have to make sure we harden our schools. This is the one area where I say 'these COVID funds that came in, this is a good time to spend the summer, take some of those funds and harden our schools over the summer,' so when our kids come back, they're safe."

 

REBANDT: "I would do a single entry entrance into every school. I would get gun-sniffing dogs and I would hire retired law enforcement or veterans to help protect those because schools, as a gun free zone, are killing zones."

 

RINKE: "I propose having former military that could volunteer and work in our school systems with a state police program that would train them as hall monitors. I went to public schools. We had hall monitors that were armed, and we learned how to deal with the police and accept them versus fear them. The support of the Second Amendment is not something that I'm ever going to question."

 

Question from Albin: "If you were elected governor, what would you do – including how would you pay for it – (for) improving Michigan's crumbling roads and infrastructure?"

 

RINKE: "Michigan's roads are designed to fail at a higher rate than other roads in the Midwest, and we see that because we allow heavier trucks on our roads than any other state – and yes, there's displacement. Yes, we are a commerce source and we need, to continue that, build roads that work for that."

 

 SOLDANO: "Over the past year, I've traveled, I think over 35,000 miles on the trail and my goodness gracious, have we had to dodge potholes. Thank God I am a chiropractor."

 

Although the question was connected to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's 2018 campaign promise to “fix the damn roads,” which she continues to drop in various press conferences, Soldano pivoted to a discussion on COVID-19 regulations from 2020 – which were deemed unconstitutional by the Michigan Supreme Court later that year.

 

“Well, if we don't get businesses back here, we're dead in the water, so how are we going to get these jobs back?” Soldano said. "Well, number one, we have to make sure that Michigan is a business friendly state and make sure that no governor can weaponize the health department again to shut us down in the next cold and flu season."

Team MIRS