Tudor Dixon to St. Clair crowd: ‘We’re fighting with prayer’

A short roster of conservative figures rallied a packed St. Clair church for more than an hour on Thursday before greeting Republican candidate for governor Tudor Dixon — the Stand Up Michigan bus tour slogan “empower families, protect children” behind her.

They each beat the same anti-Democrat drum, recalling the controversy of pandemic closures and burgeoning rhetoric over parental choice, just 12 days ahead of the General Election when Dixon faces off against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Dixon, whose running mate is Port Huron Republican Shane Hernandez, echoed the comments of her supporters, purporting a victory from her second and final gubernatorial debate two days prior, cracking a few jokes about political gaffes, and alleging the incumbent Democrat’s evasion of talk of COVID in schools.

“I was on Glenn Beck earlier, and he said, ‘Do you think she thinks she’s a Jedi?’” Dixon said. “… We’re joking about it, but it’s really a serious issue, and the reason we remember it every single day is because Michigan has had such a significant learning loss.”

But before the candidate took the stage, the subject matter among speakers had been broader and encompassed concerns about the proposals on the statewide ballot on Nov. 8, particularly Proposal 3, which aims to codify reproductive rights, including abortion, into the Michigan Constitution.

And the location of the rally itself — St. Clair United Methodist Church near the city’s downtown — permeated their remarks in references to faith, God, and the importance to side-step church-in-state separation expectations.

Dixon and Hernandez have been featured speakers in several other recent Stand Up Michigan events, though few inside a formal church setting.

When asked, Dixon didn’t directly address if she thought the faith community would help clinch a win this election, adding only those beliefs have "a lot do to with how we view the world” and that they “need to get Christians out” to vote.

During her formal remarks, however, she hinted at the role voters' faith could play — first referencing the exposure she joked her previously "unknown" name gains in Democratic attack ads.

“That’s what we’re up against, and that is the beauty of this campaign,” Dixon said. “Because I hear her on multiple occasions say she’s fighting like hell. All of these terrible words. Well, we’re fighting with prayer, and that means we don’t need as much money as them because we have a lot more power behind us.”

People of faith motivated to political action

Other speakers on Thursday included Hernandez; Ron Armstrong and Tammy Clark with Stand Up Michigan, an activist group founded in 2021; Tami Carlone, candidate for State Board of Education; U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain; Terry Kuhns, senior pastor at Fellowship Baptist Church; and Pat Colbeck, a former state senator who outlined opposition over proposals 2 and 3.

The event began with an opening prayer from St. Clair Methodist’s Pastor John Grenfell.

Armstrong thanked him early on for opening up the church for the Stand Up Michigan stop before shifting focus to how people may have been motivated to get involved politically post-pandemic.

“We oftentimes say churches should get involved in government. Well, that’s a lie, first of all,” he said. “Second of all, we have not been a part of the process. We have been busy raising our families and volunteering and coaching and maybe teaching in our church. But oftentimes, we haven’t served in our community. We haven’t served on boards. We haven’t done that. And now, we go through what we’ve gone through recently, and we identify that the people that are there do not represent our values.”

McClain expressed a similar note of thanks with a wink to the involvement of churches, adding, “Oh, my heavenly days. Can we do that anymore? You’re doggone right we can do that, and I would say we should do that.”

Kuhns, whose congregation is in East China Township, broke down his opposition against Prop 3. He compared the issue in contrast to a list of penalties on the books for animal cruelty versus how the performance of abortion procedures wasn’t punishable under state law.

“This is really a deeply philosophical question for people of faith,” he said.

But the local pastor also admitted to a deviation from past practices in getting political.

“I’ve been a pastor now (for) 25 years. I have never as a pastor publicly supported a candidate from my pulpit,” Kuhns said. “But these are crazy times we are living in, and there is way too much at stake for any of us to keep silent.”

Getting involved and reaching 'people in the middle'

Other issues touched on Thursday included the use of fentanyl and continuing opioid crisis, as well as crime and immigration.

Hernandez, who would be the state’s first Hispanic lieutenant governor should Dixon’s ticket win, recapped his background growing up in Croswell and the influence of his parents — that of a father who, he said, was a third-generation Mexican-American and migrant worker and his mother “who made sure God was always the center of our lives.”

The ascension to political office and the current campaign, he said, felt like the American dream. And he challenged supporters to talk “to people in the middle.”

After the event, Dixon said she thought “parents’ rights” — from books in schools to past COVID mandates referenced during the rally — would be something that helps bring voters from the middle over to their side on Nov. 8.

“And this is something that the Democrats seem to be laughing about — you know, joking,” she said. “And when we see Stephen Colbert joking about it at night, parents take this seriously. So, keep making a mockery of parents, and they’ll make sure that they side with the people that take them seriously.”

McClain said it was a matter of supporting candidates with “traditional values,” adding the education system seemed to be “more concerned with their LGBTQ issues than teaching you how to read and write.”

Carlone said the State Board of Education “has gone rogue,” similarly alleging that Democrats didn’t talk about academics but, rather, social justice.

More than the issues, though, speakers asked rally attendees to look amongst themselves — and to look at the crowd supporting their beliefs. McClain was among those who motioned to a school group sitting nearby, putting the emphasis on the future.

“We say, ‘I’m going to do my part because I’ve had enough,’” Clark said. “That’s where we make a difference. And you know, politics happens at the local levels. It’s incredibly important that we all figure out: What’s my goal? What’s my part? Where can I get involved? And do it.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Dixon to St. Clair crowd: ‘We’re fighting with prayer’