All eyes appear to be watching Michigan’s Republican 22nd state Senate primary race between state Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, and Mike Detmer, R-Howell.
Today, Politico reported that Theis’ fundraising email in which she falsely claimed state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, wants to “groom” and “sexualize kindergartners” backfired. Apparently, Republican donors were just as put off by Theis’ outrageous fundraising email as I was. (You can read my piece here.)
Politico reported that in the days following that email, Theis took in just $235 from individual donors.
You read that right: $235.
On the other hand, Politico reported that McMorrow took in over $1 MILLION in that same time period.
I can understand how difficult it must be for a longtime, popular politico like Theis to be locked in a tough and strange primary battle with someone like Mike Detmer of Howell, the train wreck of a candidate who has lost the two races in which he’s run, and whose tasteless social media habits — including his selfies with Proud Boys — are well known.
Theis, one of the Legislature’s most conservative members, is vice chair of the Senate Oversight Committee, which announced in a high-profile report last year that there were no significant acts of fraud in the 2020 election, in which President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by 3 points.
Trump endorsed Detmer in the primary, saying that Theis “forgot” she is a Republican.
This race has also caught the attention of the Country First PAC, founded by Congressman Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who sits on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Country First Michigan sent out a mailing yesterday claiming that only a Republican will win the 22nd state Senate District (which includes all of Livingston County, as well as parts of eastern Ingham, southern Shiawassee, southern Genesee and northwestern Oakland counties – the map is at the end of this post), so Democrats should vote against the “pro-insurrection” Republicans.
There are also Democrats urging fellow Dems to cross over in the Aug. 2 primary to vote for Theis because they fear a Detmer win. There are some Democrats crossing over in the primary to vote for the Trump-endorsed Detmer because they think his extreme views will make it easier for Democrat Jordan Genso to defeat him. And the chairperson of the Livingston County Democratic Party is urging Democrats to vote only in the Democratic primary because she fears loss of attention and funding from the DCCC if not enough Democratic votes are cast.
What should have been a slam-dunk for Theis has devolved into a race on which Betsy DeVos’ Great Lakes Education Project is spending some serious bucks to help. In addition to mailings, the GLEP is helping prop up Theis’ campaign with a Dems Win With Detmer website, which warns that anyone voting for Detmer on Aug. 2 is voting for “Michigan Democrats and their radical agenda.”
So, what will the Aug. 2 vote bring? I suggest we buckle up for these final days before the primary.
