Michigan Senate Majority Leader Aric Nesbitt, a Republican, hopes to use his humble beginnings and lessons learned from President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 coalition to succeed Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2026. I will go.
Nesbitt served six years in the Michigan House of Representatives before moving on to the state Senate and assuming the state’s top Republican leadership post in 2023 before formally entering the 2026 gubernatorial race on Tuesday. He was one of the first candidates. Now, she is aiming to unseat Whitmer, who is term-limited, and deny the Michigan Democratic Party an opportunity to further advance the policies Nesbitt believes she is committed to ordinary people. (Related: ‘The Guy’s Got Balls’: Meet the little-known governors expected to jump into the 2024 presidential race)
Michigan families deserve a governor who puts families, students, and workers first. Thank you for being with me @rooprajfox2 pic.twitter.com/0mc2JXk0d0
— Aric Nesbitt (@aricnesbitt) January 17, 2025
“Michiganders expect and deserve far better than what they are getting from Lansing. For too long, they have prioritized businesses over workers, and we must first We need to have state workers,” Nesbitt told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We have to put Michigan students first because they are putting faculty unions over students. They are putting schools over families over Michigan families. Given that, how do we structure ourselves to campaign on a Michigan First agenda?”
Nesbitt has deep roots in Michigan, going back six generations to the 1820s, he told DCNF. He and his wife are seventh generations in the state, which he says motivates them to make the state a better, more prosperous place to live for its 10 million residents.
“We invest in land. I grew up milking cows and doing morning chores. I was up at 5:30 in the morning,” Nesbitt said. “I think the people of Michigan expect a governor who works as hard as he does every day. I’m willing to be there and do the job that’s needed.”
“With me, you’re going to have someone who dehorns cows, castrates pigs, and paints barns in the middle of summer. No nonsense. I’m ready to get to work and get the job done. ” Nesbitt continued. “Growing up on a farm, you never went inside the house until the job was done, whether it was dehusking corn, picking grapes, or pulling hay in the middle of a 95-degree summer. I think that’s what it means.” And that’s going to be my first job, and it’s going to be to show that I’m going to work as hard as I do every day for the people of Michigan to come to work and work as governor. ”
Nesbitt explained that he believes the Trump administration’s 2024 coalition can be replicated in 2026 and deliver electoral victory.
“I think Michiganders are ready for new leadership, whether it be conservatives, small business owners, religious leaders, farmers, law enforcement officials or Muslims, that President Trump had.” Working families came out, whether they were Jewish or not,” Nesbitt told DCNF. “I think President Trump has provided a great template for us to be the party of the working class. I come from a working class background and I also own a farm. First and foremost, we put Michigan families first.”
Mr. Trump succeeded in winning over black voters, Hispanic voters, and young voters in Michigan in 2024. According to Go to NBC News. He also won Dearborn, a Muslim-majority city, also made gains in Hamtramck, another Muslim-majority city in the Detroit area.
Nesbitt also strongly opposes Whitmer’s move to subsidize Chinese companies setting up shop in the state. One such company is Gotion, which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party through its Chinese parent company, Gotion High-Tech.
Nesbitt told the DCNF: “I have a consistent history as a member of Congress opposing corporate subsidies to woke multinational corporations, and I have a history of supporting these companies that are connected to or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.” That definitely applies,” he said. “What Governor Whitmer did was wrong. You can see that in the local elections that were held in the state. That’s national security. And at the end of the day, any company or individual with ties to the Chinese Communist Party I think we can all agree that they shouldn’t buy up our farmland, let alone the land in Michigan.”
Voters still have a long way to go before they can go to the polls in the primary, and it will take even longer to determine the outcome of the general election. Nevertheless, Nesbitt is keeping an eye on his potential competition.
Before Nesbitt threw in the ring, former Democratic Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was running as the only major candidate to ever run for governor, although as an independent rather than a Democrat. Mr. Nesbitt did not comment on possible challengers in the Republican primary, but he has some guesses as to who might enter the race for the Democratic nomination. Transportation Secretary to step down, according to some reports pete buttigieg and current Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson You may be weighing your run.
“I fully expect Pete Buttigieg, the interloper from Indiana, and I fully expect current lieutenant governor Garlin Gilchrist to join us,” Nesbitt said. Ta. “But I think it’s gerrymander Joselyn who ultimately wins the primary. She has a far-left background and has more support in San Francisco and New York City than she does in Michigan. We are going to expose far-left progressive socialists for who they are, not how they try to present themselves.”
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