Dozens of Republican candidates for elected office in Michigan have stated their belief that the 2020 election was stolen in response to a questionnaire created by “America First” conservatives vowing to take control of the GOP.
The questionnaire, crafted by “America First” precinct delegates and conservative activists, forms a statement of priorities for the group of pro-Donald Trump Republicans.
So far, 42 candidates for public office in Michigan have recorded their views on critical race theory, vaccine passports, a “forensic audit” of 2020 results, removal of Dominion voting machines and what they believe happened during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot. Respondents include candidates for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, Congress, the state legislature, the Michigan Board of Education and local offices.
Eleven candidates who filled out the questionnaire disclosed that they protested Trump’s loss that day in Washington, D.C.
Debra Ell, a Frankenmuth precinct delegate and an ardent Trump supporter who worked on his 2020 reelection campaign, posted the questionnaire on dozens of conservative-aligned Facebook pages this week. Ell said it’s been a work in progress — candidates have been turning in responses since spring 2021.
“It’s been a very good measuring stick for our Michigan first, America First group before we endorse a candidate,” Ell said. “There are some key questions; we want to make sure that they are not ‘RINOs’ or somebody that we really couldn’t support.”
The body of responses appears to show some solidarity in identifying and replacing Republicans who aren’t loyal to the former president. Ell claims “America First” Republicans make up a strong majority of the party. Meanwhile, pro-Trump activists are working to ensure that by filling vacant precinct delegate positions with allies.
“Our goal is to just restore the party the way it should be,” Ell said. “Grow the party and open that up to new precinct delegates.”
Ell played a key role in orchestrating the removal of former Michigan Republican Party executive director Jason Roe after he said voter fraud didn’t cause Trump’s loss. Roe’s position aligns with state audits, an Auditor General report, court decisions and a Senate Oversight Committee investigation.
Roe said the questionnaire amounts to “virtue signaling” on issues that only matter to a segment of conservative voters.
“It is clearly designed for everyone to march in lockstep to one tune and that’s just not politically viable in a state as large and politically diverse as Michigan,” Roe said. “These issues are important to a small group of people but the reality is there are legislative efforts in place to fix a lot of things they are angry about, whether real or perceived.”
It’s unclear how influential the “America First” Republicans are within the broader party. The Michigan Republican Party has officially acknowledged Joe Biden as the president but continues to cater to conservatives who don’t accept that Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes.
A GOP spokesperson acknowledged the state party was aware of the “America First” questionnaire but declined comment on its contents or specific candidate responses.
Although some issues, like a candidate’s stance on abortion or pledges not to raise taxes, can sway some voters, it remains to be seen whether what a Republican candidate thinks of Jan. 6 or the 2020 election results becomes a central issue in primary campaigns, said Matt Grossmann, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University.
That said, Grossmann noted a candidate’s stances on election integrity and other issues Trump continues to prioritize could impact whether voters perceive them as a pro-Trump candidate.
“The candidates...in the Republican Party definitely don’t get want to get the label that they’re an anti-Trump candidate, and they don’t want their opponents to be labeled as the Trump-preferred candidate,” Grossmann said.
In her Facebook posts, Ell identified candidates who have not participated, including attorney general candidate Tom Leonard and gubernatorial candidates James Craig, Garrett Soldano, Perry Johnson, Tudor Dixon, Mike Brown and Donna Brandenburg.
Most candidates who responded supported a “forensic audit” of the 2020 results and said Dominion Voting Systems machines shouldn’t be used in Michigan. Other questions deal with prosecuting election officials for undefined “violations” and replacing legislators “for ignoring evidence of fraud.”
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Michigan’s Republican-majority Legislature for refusing to overturn the election. An extensive Senate Oversight Committee report that found no evidence of widespread fraud was deemed a “coverup” by Trump. At a Tuesday fundraiser for DePerno, Trump again complained that Senate Republicans aren’t taking his fraud allegations seriously enough.
Candidates made frequent references to “RINOs,” a pejorative term meaning “Republicans in Name Only.”
“Define a RINO in your own words,” one question reads. “If they vote against our Republican Party president, defy our Party Platform and have deceived those that put them in office, do they belong in the Republican Party leadership? What should be done?”
Another question asks candidates who they voted for in the 2016 primary and general elections. And 31 of the 42 respondents committed to not taking money from lobbyists during their campaigns.
Roe said narrowing the definition of Republicans is a terrible idea.
“Whatever bandwidth activists give to beating up fellow Republicans rather than getting non-Republicans to vote for our team is misplaced,” Roe said. “This is not a Republican state. It’s as purple of a state you will find in the union.”
These issues might be important to hardcore conservatives, but could become a liability for candidates in the general election, he said. The advantages of a struggling Biden administration could be squandered, Roe said, if the party doesn’t reach out to independent voters and moderate Democrats.
“Where it’s most complicated is at the statewide level, because we’re going to come out of the convention with nominees who can’t win a general election,” Roe said. “That’s going to undermine the opportunity in the governor’s race (to beat Whitmer). We’re quite bullish on the state House, Senate and congressional races, but people saying dumb things and focusing on the wrong set of issues in these uncertain economic and national security times is not going to be an effective strategy.”
Not all candidates who filled out the questionnaire vowed to purge the GOP.
Thomas Kunse, a candidate for the 100th state House District, said using the term is divisive.
“RINO is not a productive term,” Kunse wrote. ”It is juvenile.”
Attorney General candidate Matthew DePerno, who Trump endorsed and hosted a fundraiser for this week, wrote that he was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to brief Trump administration staff on stolen election claims. Trump plans to visit Michigan soon to campaign for DePerno.
“On January 6, 2021, I was in the State Department briefing Mike Pompeo’s staff on how the election was stolen,” DePerno wrote. “NOTE to reader: don’t tell the Feds!”
Ryan Kelley, an Allendale Township real estate agent running for governor, was among a mob that pushed past police barriers on Jan. 6. Kelley used his phone to record rioters fighting with police outside the Capitol but described the event as a “peaceful gathering” in his questionnaire response. Ell has personally endorsed Kelley’s gubernatorial campaign.
Others who said they protested outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 include 3rd District congressional hopeful Audra Johnson, 13th District congressional hopeful Articia Bomer, state House candidates Mellissa Carone, Nevin Cooper-Keel, Angela Rigas, Jon Rocha, Diane Saber and Andrew Sebolt, Board of Education candidate Linda Tarver and Saginaw County Commission candidate Andrea Paschall.
Candidates weren’t shy about sharing baseless theories about clandestine false flag operations and dystopian cover-ups. Many repeated false claims that anti-fascists, Black Lives Matter activists or government agents orchestrated the event. Those claims have been roundly debunked in court and by participants who themselves pleaded guilty to crimes.
Michael Shallal, a Sterling Heights Republican running for the 57th state House District, said he was in Washington, D.C. that day. He described the Jan. 6 riot as “an inside job, a well-orchestrated coup against a sitting president facilitated by Nazi Pelosi and the federal police.”
Shallal said members of Congress who certified the Electoral College vote should be charged for treason “if and when election results are proven to be inaccurate.”
Tom Norton, who seeks to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, described Jan. 6 as a “small riot.”
Jacky Eubanks, a state House candidate endorsed by Trump, called the event a “fed-led psy-op.” Eubanks was a staffer for U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, at the time.
Ell said asking whether there is evidence of voter fraud is key to differentiating candidates.
“It is one of the most important questions because a lot of them will say similar things about education, about roads and the kitchen table issues,” Ell said. “We are not going to move on. We believe that there was fraud there. We believe that there were things that people should be going to prison for.”
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