How worried is state Sen. Lana Theis about the August primary?

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It should be a slam dunk of a primary for Republican state Sen. Lana Theis, but the specter of Democrats crossing over to vote for her opponent, Mike Detmer, in the Aug. 2 Republican primary has apparently spooked Michigan’s Republican establishment. Her campaign is now being propped up by a Dems Win With Detmer website paid for by Betsy DeVos’ Great Lakes Education Project, which warns that anyone voting for Detmer on Aug. 2 is in actuality voting for “Michigan Democrats and their radical agenda.”

The single-page site has a couple links, and it features a huge photo of Detmer looking like he’s roasting in what could be Democrat hell. The site ties him to “radical leftists” and “powerful union leaders,” and points out his “disgusting behavior on social media,” including his campaign following “numerous accounts of young women in lingerie and bikinis.” It also points out Detmer’s multiple bankruptcies.

The site ends with “Vote for Lana Theis to send a message to Gretchen Whitmer and her special interests groups that Michigan students come first!”

Why would Theis be spooked by Detmer? Seriously, Detmer is a train wreck of a candidate who has lost every race he’s run, and whose tasteless social media habits — including his selfies with Proud Boys — are well known.

There are a few reasons why Theis may be feeling vulnerable.

One of the pillars of Detmer’s campaign is the auto insurance reform bill of which Theis — the powerful chair of the Michigan Senate Insurance and Banking Committee — was primary drafter. The bill, signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2019, has resulted in loss of care for hundreds with catastrophic injuries, and has forced some long-term care providers to shut down.

Then, Theis, as majority vice-chair of the Senate Oversight Committee, signed off on the report that concluded there was no widespread election fraud in Michigan’s 2020 general election.

(Despite signing off on that report, Theis had trouble when asked at a town hall whether President Joe Biden was actually the duly-elected president; she chose to straddle the GOP fence by saying only that Biden was “sworn in.” I don’t know about you, but I think there’s a whole lot of space between outright winning an election by 7 million votes and being “sworn in.” But then again, I am not a Republican legislator seeking re-election in the current chaos of GOP politics.)

Signing off on that report earned Theis the ire of Donald Trump, who threw the weight of his endorsement behind Detmer while saying that Theis “forgot” she is a Republican.

Then, Theis accused a fellow state legislator of being a child sexual abuser. (You can read my column about that by clicking here.) As horrible as that accusation is, though, it’s on brand with the current chaos of GOP politics.

In addition to getting the nod from Trump, Detmer has also picked up the endorsement of state Rep. Bob Bezotte, R-Marion Township, signaling a major fracture in Livingston County’s Republican party. What remains to be seen is just how bad that fracture is, and whether it can ever knit itself back together.

The only thing anyone knows for sure right now is that whichever candidate wins the Republican primary — Theis or Detmer — will go on to face Democrat Jordan Genso in November.

And Genso calls the Dems Win with Detmer website a “prime example of why our current political environment is so depressing.”

I’m with Genso.

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Maria Stuart worked at The Livingston County Press/ Livingston County Daily Press & Argus as a reporter, editor and managing editor. These days, she runs The Livingston Post.