For more than a year, second-term Rep. John James (R-MI) campaigned for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Michigan as though the Aug. 4 primary were a formality.
He skipped earlier debates organized by the Michigan Republican Party, relied on the name recognition from two unsuccessful Senate campaigns, and counted on President Donald Trump’s endorsement to seal the deal.
The televised debates in Detroit and Grand Rapids provided the first real test of that strategy. They also marked the first time James had to spend an hour answering sustained attacks from his opponents. By the end, the aura of inevitability surrounding his candidacy had faded.
Mike Cox, a former two-term state attorney general, and businessman Perry Johnson arrived with a clear strategy: turn the debates into a referendum on James rather than each other.
Johnson performed remarkably well for someone without a career in politics.
His campaign rests on a simple premise: Michigan’s problems are the product of decades of poor governance by both parties.
As a self-funder, he argues he owes nothing to special interests and can restructure a state government that spends too much while producing too little. His prescription is unapologetically pro-growth: right the ship of state, then pursue tax reforms to make Michigan more competitive with the Sun Belt.
Johnson has also accomplished something James probably did not expect: he has gotten under the congressman’s skin.
Johnson may be a little awkward, but he is not a polished politician who spent hundreds of millions of dollars on two losing Senate campaigns. He is an outsider who believes both Republicans and Democrats have failed Michigan.
Whether Republican primary voters ultimately agree is beside the point. It is the same outsider argument that resonated for Trump in 2016.
James, by contrast, often relied on talking points instead of making an affirmative case for his candidacy. Under repeated attacks from Johnson and Cox, he appeared visibly rattled.
The clearest evidence came after the debate. Rather than enter the spin room and answer questions from reporters, James departed immediately, with a campaign staffer simply announcing, “The congressman has elected to leave.”
That moment fit a broader pattern.
James has campaigned less like a candidate seeking to win a contested primary than one expecting a coronation.
His greatest challenge is explaining his contradictions.
James may have Trump’s endorsement — the president has clearly received bad political advice, just as he did in Iowa, Georgia and South Carolina — but he is more bandwagon Trumpist than longtime Trump loyalist.
In 2022, James told CBS affiliate WLNS that Trump was “not fit to lead.” Today, he presents himself as one of the president’s strongest allies.
James has flip-flopped on vehicle kill switches and tried to have it both ways on data centers. His embrace of America First also sits uneasily beside a family business built on precisely the kind of unrestrained free trade that many Michiganders blame for decades of industrial decline. To paraphrase Eminem: Will the real John James please stand up?
TRUMP ENDORSES JOHN JAMES IN MICHIGAN GOVERNOR’S RACE
The debates served as a reminder that nominations are not awarded simply because voters think it is someone’s turn.
If James wants to become the Republican nominee and the next governor of Michigan, he must demonstrate not only that he wants the office but that he is prepared to earn it.
Dennis Lennox is a political commentator and public affairs consultant. Follow @dennislennox on X.