This past week, the three Republican gubernatorial candidates shared the stage for two televised debates. These were the first times they did this in 2026. With recent polls claiming John James in the lead, Mike Cox and Perry Johnson went on the attack, criticizing James’s family company for receiving state tax credits but not delivering on promised jobs. James later responded that “these two gentlemen would troll Jesus and say he couldn’t swim because he walked on water.”
Perry Johnson is proposing to eliminate the state income tax. The Michigan state income tax (4.25%) provides approximately $13.5 billion in revenue for the state, which would require significant spending cuts. John James also received criticism for his family business (James Group) importing car parts from China and Japan, instead of working with US auto parts suppliers. (Read the article here.)
In another exchange, John James denied that he voted to impose the Vehicle Kill Switch Mandate, which will require future new cars feature AI technology that will disable the vehicle if it (the computer) determines the driver is driving unsafely. Mike Cox responded by accurately noting that John James was lying, because in fact he voted against the amendment to remove the mandate, which was included in a recent spending bill – effectively voting to impose the mandate.
After Perry Johnson criticized John James over campaign donations from companies tied to data center projects, John James fired back saying “Perry, I know when you were born, Black people could still be bought and sold in this country, but no one owns me.” Perry Johnson’s campaign demanded an apology but James refused. (Read the article here.)
