- Three contenders in the GOP governor’s race would support federal intervention in Detroit to reduce crime
- Candidates also talked possible tax decreases, education reforms
- Conservative activists, public officials and candidates were on Mackinac Island for a biennial conference ahead of 2026 election
MACKINAC ISLAND — After Vice President JD Vance offered last week to send National Guard troops to Detroit if Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asked, Republican candidates vying to replace her said they’d take the Trump administration up on the offer.
Three Republican contenders — Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, former House Speaker Tom Leonard and former Attorney General Mike Cox — told Bridge Michigan that high crime rates in Detroit warrant the measure.
“Detroit is still one of the most dangerous cities in the entire country,” Leonard told Bridge Michigan during the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, which attracted party leaders and candidates to the island.
“If I was the governor of the state of Michigan, I would be taking the federal government up on whatever help they were willing to give us.”
Related:
- Who’s running for Michigan governor: GOP outsiders join a crowded primary
- JD Vance in Michigan: Trump will send National Guard to Detroit if Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asks.
- Why Trump isn’t sending troops to Detroit, yet
President Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up federal law enforcement presence in some major US cities, deploying the National Guard in Washington, DC and Memphis and increasing immigration raids in Chicago.
While Detroit remains one of the more violent large cities in America, its violent crime rate has fallen in recent years. In 2024, the city recorded the lowest number of murders in nearly 60 years.
“What we are doing is working and is leading the country, so we don’t need a National Guard person standing on a corner,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for governor as an independent, recently told WJR Detroit.
Even with the decreases, Detroit’s had more homicides (203) in 2024 than far bigger cities such as Dallas, which has twice as many people and had 20 fewer homicides.
Detroit’s homicide rate of 32 per 100,000 people is higher than Chicago, which led US cities in total homicides (573.)
Nesbitt said crime in Detroit is “out of control.”
“It’s about the safety of Michiganders,” Nesbitt said. “I’m going to be standing with President Trump and next to him to make sure that working families are safe.”
Cox also said he’d say “hell yes,” if Trump made the offer now. But he suggested that it wouldn’t be necessary if he was already in office because crime would be under control.
Representatives for US Rep. John James, the fourth major GOP challenger for governor, did not respond to inquiries from Bridge Michigan about the National Guard.
Detroit spokesperson John Roach told Bridge on Wednesday after Vance’s speech that it would be a “serious mistake” to abandon Detroit’s violence prevention strategy, noting that murder, shooting and carjacking rates in Detroit are the lowest they’ve been in decades.
Nonprofit community violence intervention initiatives the city credits with assisting the historic reductions in citywide violent crime are in some cases facing new financial strains under the Trump administration.
FORCE Detroit, a nonprofit that supports at-risk youth and offers workforce development and other support to people impacted by violence, and a similar initiative in Lansing lost a combined $3 million in federal funding as part of nationwide cuts to Department of Justice spending.
Eliminate income taxes?
Michigan’s Republican gubernatorial primary is now up to eight candidates — including four deemed long-shots — and others are still considering entering the race.
Many of the contenders were on Mackinac Island this weekend, making their pitch to conservative activists attending the biennial retreat.
During an “issues forum” featuring several current and prospective candidates Saturday, Cox, Leonard and Perry Johnson — who is mulling a run but hasn’t confirmed his candidacy — advocated for eliminating or reducing the income tax, which adds billions of dollars to the state budget.
Other proposals floated included reinstating Right-to-Work, eliminating the state’s economic development arm and reducing regulations on housing construction and businesses.
James attended the conference but skipped the forum.
During a separate event on the island, James said he wished “I could multiply myself” to make time for the forum, but said he believes his message of securing the US-Canada border, reducing housing costs, improving education and keeping youth in the state is resonating.
He said one of his top priorities is improving mental health outcomes in Michigan, “because we currently have a system where there are people who are desperate for help, and our schools, our jails and our hospitals were not designed to handle the need.”
Pastor Ralph Rebandt, a 2026 hopeful who ran for governor in 2022 and finished fifth out of five candidates in that year’s GOP primary, said he supports a statewide ballot campaign to eliminate the property tax, while Nesbitt advocated for reducing energy and insurance costs.
Other grassroots candidates who didn’t participate in the panel, including Karla Wagner and Anthony Hudson, have also supported eliminating property and income taxes in some capacity. Evan Space is also seeking the Republican nomination.
Improving education was also top of mind for many candidates, who largely found common ground on removing diversity, equity and inclusion and LGBT initiatives from classrooms, improving third-grade reading scores and supporting school choice.
Cox argued the next governor should call a special session in the early days of 2027 to focus on tax and education reforms, recommending Michigan leaders pursue similar policies to Mississippi.
Leonard said it is time for Republicans to set the narrative on education.
“We have let the Democrats take the lead on education,” Leonard said. “No more.”
This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.