WASHINGTON (AP) – The Republican primary for Michigan governor is shaping up as a battle of whose personal baggage is the least disqualifying.
In an otherwise favorable election year for Republicans, the spectacle surrounding the Aug. 2 contest could hobble the party’s effort to defeat Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. In a politically consequential state, the Republican candidates include someone charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and a businessman who was taken to court, accused of using racial slurs and sexually harassing employees. Another candidates acted in low-budget horror pictures, and still another hawked supplements he falsely claimed treated COVID-19.
Republicans say Whitmer is still vulnerable given inflation and her ties to President Joe Biden.
