Mike Detmer spent most of the primary season attacking his 8th Congressional District Republican opponent Paul Junge, and now that Junge has won the race, Detmer doesn’t appear willing to let it go.
When a supporter on his campaign’s Facebook page today asked Detmer if he’d be supporting Junge, the answer was:
Junge won the four-way primary by collecting 35.1 percent of the vote to Detmer’s 28.6 percent. Kristina Lyke was third with 25.4 percent, while Alan Hoover was fourth with 10.4 percent. Detmer, though, was the winner in Livingston County, collecting 36.5 percent of the vote to Junge’s 29.8 percent.
Junge now moves on to face incumbent U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, in the fall.
Detmer, an auto salesman from Howell, was relentless throughout the campaign with his attacks on Junge, a former prosecutor and TV news anchor who moved to Brighton last year. Most of the attacks centered on the fact that Junge has lived outside of Michigan for most of his life.
Detmer called him “California Paul,” because he spent much of his life in California, and accused him of moving to Michigan simply to run for the office. He also attacked Junge for skipping out on a debate, for not participating in Second Amendment rallies and for not being a “true Constitutional Conservative.”
Brutal primary battles are commonplace in races large and small across the country, but in many instances, the defeated foes rally behind their party’s winner. That doesn’t appear to be the case with Detmer and Junge, though.
Detmer also indicated on Facebook that if his supporters want to write him in this November, he wouldn’t try to stop them.
