The title above:  “Is Michigan Ready to Vote out Gretchen Whitmer Next Year?” I know is a relatively simple question asked but not easily answered one for me.

Some of my fellow Michiganians might be seeing red right now with the presumption of the question that Whitmer, with this disaster of a first-term almost 3 years old, could win again. Well, my compadres, that is the only red you will see in this blue state.

Michigan is not a deep blue state but one that will on occasion trend purple. For those of you that just look at a map of the west side of the state and go north and see all red, you are correct. Most of Michigan’s 83 counties are red during every election.

The problem comes in when you find out that the reason people flock “up north” is because there are not as many people up there as we have down here in Metro Detroit. Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties are where elections in this state are decided. If you recall, in 2016, President Donald Trump won Michigan by just under 11,000 votes. and that was due to the strength of the blue-collar crossover vote in Macomb.

If you still doubt me then please explain how Debbie Stabenow has been a Michigan Senator since 2001? Contact me at [email protected] with all of your theories or explanations on that, being I love hearing from people.

Yet all is not blue — we do go purple on occasion and we do have a chance to do it again next year with the atrocious current Governor of this state up for re-election. Her record alone should sink her chances but that is not enough.

There are way too many questions on how elections are done with the COVID bending of the rules in 2020 and that needs to be addressed to make sure that we have the best and most secure elections going forward.

Also, the Michigan Republican Party, at times, has seemed more comfortable with raising money and promoting the next in line than actually getting out of the way and letting the candidates settle it themselves. This method has more often than not alienated the very base of the GOP and produced lackluster results.

Now that we are a mere 16 months away from the November 2022 election, the race to unseat Whitmer is about to heat up. Currently, seven candidates are running on the GOP side with the best-known person being a gent by the name of Garrett Soldano. He had built up a large Facebook presence during the Whitmer lockdowns of last year and his original group was approaching close to a half-million followers until Facebook Zucked the group. The current group he has — Michigan Needs An Adjustment — has over 80k and has a constant stream of posts about news in the state.

Also this week, it is rumored that former Detroit Police Chief James Craig will announce his intention to seek the GOP nod for Governor which adds another name to an expanding crowd.

I’m no longer a card-carrying Republican for several reasons that I won’t bore you with here. Yet I do want to see a good debate about how this state can move forward after the disaster of FIX THE DAMN ROADS lady becoming SINK THE DAMN STATE gal in 3 years. These people who are vying for the chance to represent the GOP are the start of that much-needed discussion and debate on this.

That discussion needs to happen to sort out what this state has been through and how to realistically fix it. That means many debates and public forums where regular citizens will be able to listen and formulate their own views. This type of process is never easy and it is a pain in the ass but if you want the future of the Great Lake State to be bright, this is the beginning of the hard work to fix what is broken.

When those discussions and events are done and the voters go to the polls in 13 months from now, in August of 2022, to decide who will face off against Whitmer, will the party unite? In the past, when the rumors of backdoor deals and cheap attacks have still been fresh in the minds of those loyal to other candidates that did not win, they have stayed home during the November contest.

If that happens, then Gretch could very easily pull off an upset victory even with the memory fresh of the disaster she has created.

This brings me back to the original reason for this post.

Are the voters here and those in the Michigan GOP ready to have a tough and fair process to allow the people of this state to decide who will face off against the 49th Governor of this state and possibly become the 50th?

I have my doubts but I also have hope that I’m going to be proven wrong this time.

Let the games begin but remember who the real opponent is.

The person who locked down your state while breaking her own rules and killed your jobs and businesses while still getting paid.