Nesbitt, Cox Take On James For Passing On Debate

 (Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/29/2025) (SPARTA) - Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) and former Attorney General Mike Cox took on fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate John James (R-Shelby Township) for not showing up to Wednesday's gubernatorial debate, the first of three sponsored by the party. 

Nesbitt kicked off Wednesday's debate in front of around 200 attendees with a direct shot about James having lost twice statewide before and that it'd be unfortunate if voters allowed that to happen a third time. He closed the debate with this line, “I just wish one other person would have shown up here to answer these same questions and look forward to the time John James can show up to answer these questions in the future.” 

His team went as far as papering over a milk carton with James' picture on it that read, “Please help find this candidate. Every candidate should debate.” 

Cox spun the first question of the debate on growing Michigan by saying, “We don't grow Michigan by electing people who don't show up to work or by electing people who are abandoning President Trump's majority in the House and now abandoning you.” 

The specter of James, the presumed frontrunner for the GOP nomination in 2026, hung over the event at Apple Valley Events in Sparta. 

James's campaign announced earlier this afternoon that he would not be attending any primary debates until the field settled. Instead, he released a 30-second campaign video on border security that presumably will be turned into a TV ad at some point, but there's no evidence that's been done, yet. 

The candidates didn't attack each other by name, but both Anthony Hudson and Ralph Rebandt took shots at Cox at a couple of points. 

Cox had mentioned he was the only person on the stage to start a business, which Rebandt and Hudson both corrected him on. They said they both had, as well.  

Near the end of the debate, Rebandt and Cox got into a disagreement over which court case reopened Michigan. The Southeast Michigan pastor attempted to fact-check the former Attorney General on taking credit for “reopening Michigan” during COVID. 

Cox responded that he would post proof of his claim on his website by the morning, and when he did, he told Rebandt “I hope you apologize, but I won't expect it.” 

Also, Hudson called out Cox for claiming he was the first person in the race to call for the elimination of the state's income tax.  

“Guys, there are lies coming from the other end of the table," Hudson said. “I've been in this race since January. Ending the state income tax has been on my platform since December of last year, not from a candidate who joined this race in April of last year. Don't be fooled by the manipulation of the claim that I was the first one to do this, or the first one to do that.” 

In terms of the content of the debate, the candidates provided little separation. All six want to either eliminate state property taxes and/or the income tax. They all support “constitutional carry” and bringing back Right to Work.  

They all vow to either eliminate the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) or significantly change how it operates. They're supporting getting rid of DEI wherever it exists in the public sector. They all opposed, in varying degrees, letting the Chinese buy up Michigan farmland. 

The differences among the six were in focus and in style. Some examples from each candidate include: 

Nesbitt - The Senate leader put an emphasis on bringing state employees back to the office on day one. He uttered the name “Gretchen Whitmer” several times as a reason for his observation that Michigan is falling behind other states in terms of economic competitiveness and education. He typically followed up his comments by saying presumed Democratic nominee Jocelyn Benson will provide similar results as governor.  

Maybe his best line to this effect was, presumably in reference to Sandisk opting out of coming to Michigan, “Governor Whitmer can't even bribe companies to come here. You think Jocelyn Benson is going to be different?” 

Neither he nor any other candidate mentioned independent gubernatorial candidate, Mike Duggan. 

Cox - The former Attorney General mentioned opting into President Donald TRUMP's school choice tax credit and returning all state workers back to the office. He said he was the only candidate to take the “No Tax Pledge." He got under Rebandt and Hudson's skin for making claims they didn't think were accurate. Unlike Nesbitt and Hudson, in particular, he didn't have plants in the audience to clap wildly after he made a point. 

Tom Leonard - The former House Speaker didn't directly engage with any of the other candidates, but did draw applause when he called for Michigan "to be the first state that makes it a crime where you go to jail if you transition anybody's child without their knowledge." He referenced the second edition of his policy plan several times, which included his proposal to turn the MEDC into a customer support center for businesses. 

Karla Wagner - The AxMiTax leader consistently repeated the need to eliminate the state's property tax, but didn't provide much depth on many other issues. She mistakenly referenced the Michigan Education Association as being the entity that oversees public schools. She also was the only candidate to go as far as to say, “I'd like to see unions go away.”  

Wagner made the claim that the state was “bankrupt," didn't have a balanced budget and that $20 billion in cuts needed to be made. 

Anthony Hudson - The plain-spoken trucker generated the largest applause line of the night when he said his education policy would prevent schools from helping students transition from one gender to another without parental knowledge. “Your son can stay your son, your daughter can stay your daughter and the furries can stay at home. We don't allow pent in public schools.” 

Hudson also said rocker Ted Nugent has agreed to be his director of the Department of Natural Resources. Hudson vowed to eliminate the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, the Natural Resources Commission and the MEDC. He said he'd cut the Secretary of State's office by 28 percent.  

He also got a charge from the crowd when he said he'd be fine with the National Guard being deployed to Dearborn “so we can protect the people of Dearborn from Sharia law and all the crap that's happening there.” 

Rebandt - As he did in his 2022 campaign, the pastor focused more on societal issues. He was the only candidate to mention abortion during the debate when he said, “We are going to vigorously defend the life of the unborn. We can't ignore that issue.” At one point he said, “We want to end little boys being told they can become (little girls) . . . We will end the transgender nonsense.” 

He called the MEDC "an agency for termed-out Democrats. We're going to close it. He also was the only one to mention prosecuting Fay Beydoun, the former Whitmer political supporter who is being investigated criminally for potentially squandering a $20 million economic development grant. 

Both Attorney General candidates, Kevin Kijewski and Doug Lloyd, were given about a minute to speak. Kijewski got loud applause for telling the crowd he was a winning attorney in the Republican elector case.  

Also, two candidates in the open 33rd state Senate seat, Rep. Joseph Fox (R-Fremont) and Rep. Gina Johnsen (R-Portland), were allowed to address the crowd. 

Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) reported prior to the debate that his team has successfully paid down $250,000 of the party's debt and told the crowd that the party can't be dependent on a few large donors to run the party. Also, the endorsement convention will be on March 28 next year. 

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