These Republicans are looking to unseat Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow

Todd Spangler | Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON – John Engler, Fred Upton, Kid Rock. When Donald Trump eked out a historic win in Michigan two years ago, Republicans figured it meant a big name — including, at different times, one of those three — might come forward to take on U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., in 2018.

It didn’t happen. Instead, Republican voters in the Aug. 7 primary will pick as their nominee to try to deny Stabenow a fourth term one of a pair of relative unknowns: John James, a 37-year-old former Army pilot and business executive from Farmington Hills, and Sandy Pensler, a 61-year-old investor, business owner and economist who lives in Grosse Pointe.

Read more:

Metro Detroit businessman John James joins U.S. Senate race

Grosse Pointe businessman Sandy Pensler joins Republican race for U.S. Senate

The differences are more than generational: In his ads, James, who is African-American, touts not only his experience in his family’s warehousing and logistics business but his service record, attending West Point and flying Apache helicopters. Pensler focuses more on his more extensive record as what he calls “a conservative businessman” with a long record of big financial deals and owning manufacturers.

But even at a time when President Trump’s job approval ratings have sunk and remained low in Michigan and across the nation — according to pollster EPIC-MRA, 55 percent of Michiganders surveyed in June disapproved of his performance — James and Pensler have eagerly aligned themselves with the president, with James calling himself “a conservative outsider who supports the Trump agenda” and Pensler saying he believes the president “has been doing a terrific job.”

Politically speaking, that’s probably smart, since that same EPIC-MRA survey found that 79% of self-identified Republicans gave Trump positive performance reviews.

That could be a problem after the primary, however: Eighty-eight percent of Democrats have given Trump negative job reviews, as well as 55% of self-described independents. Most political handicappers believe that Stabenow is likely to retain the seat given that after winning a narrow victory over former U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., in 2000, she has beaten both of her Republicans opponents — Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard in 2006 and former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra in 2012 — by double digits.

"She doesn’t make mistakes, she doesn't make unforced errors," said Bill Ballenger, founder of the Ballenger Report, a political analysis website. "She's very shrewd."

The race could come down to style, backgrounds

Beyond their support for Trump, there are some differences between the Republican challengers, however. One is their style: While James comes across as more message-driven and scripted, sometimes repeating himself without further explanation, Pensler is more relaxed and expansive — as may befit a former Harvard and Yale economics instructor — allowing that he is more given to nuance than, say, Trump.

"(Trump) has an incredible talent for speaking simply and succinctly," Pensler said. "The problem is that sometimes the nuances that take a lot longer to elaborate get left out. (But) I have said, I don't always speak simply enough."

Both James and Pensler have business in their backgrounds: James’ family has owned and operated James Group International in Detroit for 47 years. After eight years in the Army — and hundreds of hours of flying Apaches in Iraq — James returned and became the company’s president, increasing its revenues from $35 million to $137 million and creating about 100 additional jobs in the last six years.

Pensler has the more extensive legal and business record of the two, having clerked at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and working at financial giants Lehman Brothers, the Blackstone Group and Dillon, Read & Co. before launching his own capital investment firm, which bought and turned around failing companies, in the process rebuilding businesses and saving or creating jobs. He now owns Korex, which makes cleaning products and has plants in Wixom, Chicago and Toronto.

James on the attack against Pensler for months

While the two candidates have much in common in terms of stated policies, James, particularly, has been on the attack, even as Pensler has spent as much as $1 million or more on TV and cable ads introducing himself to voters.

James’ campaign has accused Pensler repeatedly of being soft on abortion restrictions and accusing him of being open to confirming “pro-choice judges” to the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal benches. Pensler acknowledged that in 1992, when he ran unsuccessfully for Congress, he was “pro-choice,” but that his opinion changed 20 years ago with the birth of his son and now he considers himself “pro-life.”

He said he doesn’t believe in a “litmus test” for judges and as a former law clerk believes it’s inappropriate for judicial candidates to take a position on a case that could later come before him or her. But he said that as a practical matter, he would confirm judges who interpret the law and Constitution as they were written and that, in his estimation, would make it “very hard to sustain” the Roe v. Wade decision that affirmed a constitutional right to abortion. Instead, he said, it is a decision that should be left to the states.

Also of note: Pensler says that although he’s anti-abortion, he supports exceptions for women who become pregnant through rape or incest, a position he said James doesn’t share. James’ campaign said he would grant an exception to abortion prohibitions when a mother’s life is in danger.

James made it clear he couldn't support any judge who didn't openly call for abortion to be outlawed except in almost all cases.

"I believe that everyone in the Senate should have to defend life," he said. "We need to do everything we can to preserve and protect life."

Battling over business matters

James’ campaign this week also noted that three companies owned by Pensler went bankrupt over the years and lost hundreds of workers — a claim Pensler didn’t dispute but noted that his business was to buy companies on the verge of failing and turn them around, a practice that often succeeded but sometimes didn’t. “Have all of them worked? No, but most of them have,” he said.

Pensler also said that background is what separates him from James.

"The big distinction (between us) is confidence and experience," Pensler said. "I’ve restructured and advised financially on some of the largest companies in the world. … I started my own business. … I understand economics."

Pensler said that James’ family company went bankrupt in 2000 — which isn't exactly correct: a subsidiary, OJ Transport, did. James’ campaign noted that James was not running the company at the time — though it was in his family’s control — and that the restructuring “morphed the trucking business into a supply chain business that flourished.”

"All this happened while John James was serving his country at West Point. Meanwhile, Sandy Pensler was running businesses into the ground, laying employees off and outsourcing jobs,” said Tori Sachs, James' campaign manager. But while acknowledging some deals didn't work out, Pensler says he can defend his record as a turnaround specialist and job creator.

And another prominent Republican — Trump — has some bankruptcies in his business record, which came to light during his successful wins in Michigan and nationally in 2016.

James racks up endorsements

Both Republicans have made claims of rising in the polls but the only independent survey done recently — a survey of 400 likely voters by Target Insyght — showed a virtually tied race between them, well within the 5-percentage-point margin of error. The largest bloc of voters — 39 percent — declared themselves undecided.

The campaigns both closed the books on their second-quarter fundraising on Saturday but the full details won’t be known for some weeks. What is known is that, as of the end of the last fundraising quarter in March, Pensler had a clear lead of $5.1 million to James’ $2.2 million, though practically all of Pensler’s funds came in the form of a personal loan he made to his own campaign.

James’ campaign has made the case that he’s doing remarkably well considering their contention that Pensler has outspent them on TV and cable by a 10-1 margin — a claim Pensler’s camp said sounded unlikely but did not contradict specifically, not knowing the exact numbers.

And James has been racking up what may be key endorsements, including those from Michigan Right to Life, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and recording artist Kid Rock, who, for some months played a cat-and-mouse game himself as to whether he might run for the nomination. Pensler's campaign said it has not been actively seeking endorsements.

That said, Republican political consultant Dennis Lennox says he believes Pensler is the one "running a Trumpist campaign," with a populist "Michigan First" message. The question, he said, will be whether either will be able to attract national money after a divisive primary against a strong opponent.

A traditional line

Unsurprisingly, both candidates are in favor of lower taxes, smaller government and less regulation on business. Both believe that debts and deficits should be brought under control and appear ready to chastise Stabenow for her vote against tax reform last year that cut personal tax rates for Americans.

Both also argue that social safety net programs should be looked at, reformed and reduced in the pursuit of cutting government costs — while protecting Social Security for older Americans. "The question is," said Pensler, "is it worth borrowing from our kids and grandkids (to fund these programs)? ... If the answer is no, we shouldn’t do that."

Neither voiced any concern that the tax reform is, in part, fueling a national debt that has risen to $21 trillion — or equal to three-quarters of the gross domestic product, the largest it has been since just after World War II — believing it will create growth in the years to come.

“This is an investment in business, an investment in the American economy,” said James. “That takes time. … That investment is going to take some patience.”

Trump playing 'long game on trade'

But far from taking a traditional Republican view against higher tariffs, both candidates argue that Trump knows what he is doing by threatening large taxes on imported aluminum and steel, as well as autos and auto parts, not only from longtime competitors such as China but from allies such as Canada and Mexico, saying he is just trying to strike a stronger negotiating position.

"He (Trump) is a master negotiator," James said. "You don’t lead with your final offer."

It’s of note, however, that many American allies are set to impose tariffs of their own as a trade war brews and that no less a Michigan-centric concern than General Motors has warned against increased tariffs, saying they could lead to job losses at home and abroad and “negative consequences for our company and U.S. economic security.”

“Free trade requires certain reciprocal fair conditions,” said Pensler, arguing that many countries erect barriers that need to come down — an argument routinely put forward by Democrats. “We’ve been abused around the world by bad trade deals. I think what the president is trying to do is get the tariffs down through negotiation.”

Strong borders, but also compassion

Neither candidate was openly critical of the Trump administration on its decision to enforce family separations on undocumented immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, though each indicated it was regrettable.

“My heart goes out to the families that are in that situation,” James said. “This is devastating to behold.”

But he and Pensler both suggested there are legislative decisions that have been put off for years that must be made to both secure the border and decide how best to react to families coming across the Southern border illegally.

“Do I think that arresting people at the border is a bad policy? No,” said Pensler. And while he said that he prefers families be kept together, he also argues against policies that, by releasing families, could effectively create an incentive for illegal entries. “We need a solution here,” he added. “All the choices available have adverse consequences. He (Trump) was making the choice that had the least adverse consequences.”

James said the first job of Congress is to protect the borders and that Democrats, including Stabenow, have failed to do it.

"I’m a big process guy," he said. "I believe we should follow the process. But if the process is broken, we should fix it."

Contact Todd Spangler: 703-854-8947 or tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler

REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATE PRIMARY

Date: Tuesday, Aug. 7

Candidates: John James, Sandy Pensler

Background: James and Pensler, both businessmen, though from far different backgrounds, are running to take on U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is running for her fourth six-year term in office. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Stabenow handily defeated former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, by 21 percentage points, in her re-election in 2012.

More info: “Off the Record” with Tim Skubick will have a debate between the Republican candidates on Friday that will air live on https://livestream.com/wkar/otrlive and https://www.facebook.com/WKARPUBLICMEDIA/ from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. The program airs at various times on Michigan public broadcasting stations Friday through Sunday and will air on WKAR-TV in mid-Michigan at 8:30 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. Sunday, and 11:30 p.m. Sunday.

There is also expected to be a debate between the two Republicans on the morning of July 18 on the Frank Beckmann Show on WJR-AM (760). An exact time wasn't immediately available but Beckmann's show airs weekdays 9 a.m. to noon.