Republican Tudor Dixon secured an easy victory Tuesday in Michigan’s GOP gubernatorial primary, setting up a competitive face-off with Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for November.
Dixon had nearly twice as many votes as her closest competitor, businessman Kevin Rinke, at the time of this publishing, according to Detroit Free Press results. Analyst David Wasserman called the race around 8:30 p.m. Eastern, soon after most polls closed in the state.
Dixon, a conservative media personality, emerged as a clear frontrunner in a five-way primary after former President Donald Trump endorsed her last week.
Trump said of Dixon in his endorsement announcement that when he “met Tudor Dixon, she was not well known” but that he could “tell she had something very special.”
“She’s pro-God, pro-Gun, and pro-Freedom, and she won’t be stopped!” Trump stated. “She will stand up to the Radical Left as they try to indoctrinate our children and is ready to take on one of the worst Governors in the nation, Gretchen Whitmer, who is trying to destroy Michigan and our Country.”
Dixon also competed in the primary with the backing of Michigan’s wealthy DeVos family.
Dixon’s rise to the top of the gubernatorial primary field previously appeared unlikely. However, in May, the State Board of Canvassers disqualified half of the Republicans in the field, including the then-frontrunner, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, for submitting invalid nomination petitions.
The disqualifications thrust the primary into a last-minute competition among the underdogs.
Whitmer, who ran unopposed in her primary, benefited from the chaos, as polls have since shown that she holds a sizable lead, and election analyst Cook Political Report recently moved the race in the battleground state from a toss-up to “lean D.”
The Republican Governors Association (RGA) celebrated Dixon’s win in a statement Tuesday night, saying the group could not be “more excited” to “end Whitmer’s disastrous tenure.”
RGA cochairs Govs. Doug Ducey and Pete Ricketts said, “Michigan voters sent a clear message tonight that they are fed up with Gretchen Whitmer’s rampant hypocrisy, complete disregard for transparency, and failed agenda which is making it harder for families to make ends meet. We couldn’t be more excited to support Tudor Dixon this fall to end Whitmer’s disastrous tenure.”
Write to Ashley Oliver at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.
