Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley joins Republican race for governor in 2018 as sniping begins

LANSING — In a long-expected development, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley announced Tuesday he wants to be governor of Michigan.

And the spirited contest between the two presumed front-running Republican candidates — Calley and Attorney General Bill Schuette — got started quickly.

Within minutes of Calley making the news official, Stu Sandler, a Republican consultant who is running a political action committee that's supporting Schuette, started a website that took Calley to task for not supporting Donald Trump in the months leading up to last year's election. Schuette has gotten the endorsement of both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

“It is terribly ironic that Brian Calley would announce his campaign for governor on the one-year anniversary of Michigan certifying Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election," Sandler said. "Fortunately for America, Michigan voters didn’t listen to Brian Calley when he called upon them to abandon Donald Trump."

Calley decried the move, saying, "The team he has running his mud-slinging campaign is the exact same team that was used against Rick Snyder and it didn’t work then."

Calley made his candidacy official after hinting at an announcement for months — most recently at a Monday appearance with Gov. Rick Snyder, where he took partial credit for Michigan's improved economy, citing his work on corporate tax cuts and streamlining and eliminating business regulations. He told reporters to "stay tuned for some big news" on Tuesday.

"The 2018 election will be decided on who has the best plan to bring Michigan to the next level," he said. "Not only have I been involved with passing massive and historic tax cuts, streamlining or eliminating regulations and working on a balanced budget that pays down the state's debt, I also have a detailed plan for the future. And I’m the only candidate in the race who will go beyond sound bites."

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Calley joins a Republican field that includes Schuette, the acknowledged front-runner, as well as Saginaw Township physician Dr. Jim Hines and state Sen. Patrick Colbeck of Canton.

Snyder, who has clashed with Schuette over several issues, including the attorney general's criminal investigation of Flint's drinking water contamination, stopped just short of endorsing Calley on Monday.

"This is about fundamentally making Michigan a great place to live work and play for generations to come," Snyder said. "The foundation is set and let's go. And I'm proud to have a wonderful partner who has ... led so many different initiatives that are making a difference in Michigan's future."

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But Calley didn't shy away from criticizing Schuette for prosecuting state employees for their alleged role in the Flint water crisis.

"Sure, people will use different aspects of the past as weapons and politicize all kinds of things," he said. "I don’t see how there can be any shadow of doubt that the process that (Schuette) has carried out has been highly politicized."

Schuette spokeswoman Andrea Bitely disputed the characterization, saying, "Those who were poisoned or even died in Flint deserve their day in court and that is why Attorney General Schuette has taken their case."

Snyder, who can't run again in 2018 because of term limits, has rejected suggestions he might step down early — a move that would make Calley governor and allow him to run as an incumbent.

Calley has been hinting at a run since April, when he spent $500,000 in online advertising touting his credentials without an official announcement. He followed that up with a tease that he would make a major announcement on Mackinac Island before the annual Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference. But that turned into a rally for a petition drive to put a part-time Legislature on the 2018 ballot, an effort that has been riddled with problems that Calley has since turned over to other people to spearhead.

He started a statewide town hall “listening” tour last month to gauge the issues that are important to Michigan voters in the months before he made a final decision about the governor’s race.

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"The people of the state of Michigan deserve their elected officials to be focused on the work at hand instead of being caught up in endless campaign cycles. I have stayed focused on things that we can do and need to do right now," he said in explaining why he waited so long to jump into the race. "But it’s time to start shifting the focus to 2018 and beyond. I want to start out telling people how far we’ve come and then capture their imagination on how far we can go from here."

But by waiting, Calley is behind other candidates who have been in the race for months.

Schuette officially entered the race in September and already has a $2.1 million cash balance in his campaign. Calley's last report showed a cash balance of about $1.2 million.

Hines has contributed more than $500,000 to his own campaign and Colbeck has been racking up conservative endorsements, but reported only $13,232 in his campaign account at the end of October.

On the Democratic side, former Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer and former Detroit health department director Abdul El-Sayed have raised $2.3 million and $1.6 million respectively for their races and retired Ann Arbor businessman Shri Thanedar has contributed nearly $6 million of his own money to his campaign.

Other Democrats in the race are Farmington Hills businessman Bill Cobbs and emergency medical services driver Kentiel White of Southgate.

Prior to serving as lieutenant governor, Calley served two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives and two terms as an Ionia County commissioner and worked for more than a decade in community banking.

His wife, Julie, is a Republican state representative.

Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon issued a statement panning the announcement.

“In the least-anticipated announcement since his last announcement, Brian Calley will try to convince the people of Michigan it's a good idea to let him continue the failed administration he and Rick Snyder started," Dillon said.

"That might easily qualify as the last thing our state needs right now if Bill Schuette wasn’t already in the race. Instead, the Republican primary is a choice between the ineffectual cheerleader of a failed Snyder administration and a glory hound attorney general whose political ambitions are his only priority."

Calley withdrew his support for Trump in October 2016 after an Access Hollywood tape surfaced in which Trump made vulgar remarks about women.

Schuette, who initially chaired former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's presidential campaign in Michigan, became an enthusiastic Trump supporter following his nomination.

The candidates for governor will first face voters in the primary election on Aug. 7, 2018. The winners of the Democratic and Republican primary race will advance to the general election in November.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or onTwitter @michpoligal. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.