GOP candidates for governor attack one another at Oakland University debate

Four of the five Republican candidates for governor sharpened their attacks on one another  during a one-hour debate at Oakland University Wednesday night, with less than two weeks to go before the Aug. 2 primary.

Ottawa County real estate broker Ryan Kelley went after Oakland County businessman Kevin Rinke over decades-old lawsuits in which employees of Rinke's former car dealerships alleged he was a sexual harasser who  made racist remarks.

And Kalamazoo chiropractor Garrett Soldano, along with Rinke, went after Norton Shores businesswoman and former conservative TV commentator Tudor Dixon over her ties to the Michigan "establishment" and the billionaire DeVos family of west Michigan — major funders of the state's conservative causes.

Dixon fired back, noting that both Rinke and Soldano attended a meeting she also attended at which she said they sought endorsements from Betsy DeVos,  who served as education secretary under former President Donald Trump, and her husband, Dick DeVos, who was the Republican candidate for Michigan governor in 2006.

Both Rinke and Soldano were "looking for support from the same people that now they're so angry about," said Dixon, who is endorsed by both the DeVos family and state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake. "Sounds like sour grapes."

Rinke, a millionaire who is self-funding his campaign, denied he attended the meeting Dixon referenced to seek support from the DeVos family.

"The DeVos family owns you," Rinke told Dixon. "You're our (the Republican Party's) version of (Michigan Gov.) Gretchen Whitmer.

"You'll do anything and say anything to get elected."

Soldano also denied he was at the meeting to seek a DeVos endorsement, saying Dixon had referenced a restaurant association meeting he attended at which members of the DeVos family were present.

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"My definition of establishment is your entire campaign," said Soldano, who also criticized Shirkey, saying he agreed to hold a legislative hearing on "red flag" measures to help remove firearms from the mentally ill — laws that Soldano says are a violation of the Second Amendment.

Betsy DeVos quit Trump's cabinet the day after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and later confirmed she was among the Trump cabinet members who discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove the former president from office, if deemed by his cabinet to be unable to discharge his duties.

Kelley, who has pleaded not guilty to federal misdemeanor charges arising from his presence at the U.S. Capitol riot, said that if Rinke were to win the Aug. 2 primary, Whitmer could  destroy him because of two lawsuits that were brought against Rinke in the early 1990s.

Rinke was sued twice by former car dealership employees in 1992, with one suit alleging Rinke made racist remarks to a Black man and the other alleging sexist remarks and harassing behavior by him toward a woman. Both suits were dismissed, the second one after a monetary payment.

"You settled those cases," instead of "fighting them to clear your name," Kelley said to  Rinke.

Rinke has denied wrongdoing in either case and earlier told the Free Press the complaints represent a tiny percentage of the hundreds, if not thousands, of workers he has employed. He said a "nominal" payment was made in the sexual discrimination suit to end distractions.

"I fought the lawsuit because it wasn't true," Rinke told Kelley. "The people who sued me got nothing," but attorneys got paid, he said.

The fifth candidate, retired pastor Ralph Rebandt, of Farmington Hills, sought to portray himself as a peacemaker and unifier.

The infighting among the other candidates shows "why I need to be governor," Rebandt said. As a pastor, he said he has "dealt with situations like this ... where people are at each other's throats," adding that  one of his goals is party unity.

The sharp jabs in Wednesday's debate, which was organized by Scripps Broadcasting and the Michigan Republican Party and broadcast live on TV stations around the state, obscured the fact that all five candidates generally agree on most significant issues they were questioned about, including support of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down abortion rights.

They also generally agreed that:

• Guns don't kill; people do.

• Critical race theory is being taught in Michigan's K-12 schools, regardless of what school officials say.

• Regulations are bad, and excessive in Michigan.

• Taxes should be massively cut, but spending should be increased  to boost mental health services and improve  drinking water quality.

Kelley qualified his support for more funding for mental health services, as Rebandt has, saying the state should lean more on faith-based organizations to provide such services more successfully at lower cost.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter. 

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GOP governor candidates come out swinging at Oakland University debate