Paul Egan

Detroit Free Press

LANSING — Michigan Republicans, in control of all major statewide offices and fresh off an election in which a GOP presidential candidate won Michigan's electoral votes for the first time since 1988, are setting their sights on the only prize that has eluded them in recent years — a U.S. Senate seat.

There are no announced candidates to challenge U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2018, but names dropped at Saturday's Michigan Republican Party state convention at the Lansing Center ran the gamut from a congressman to a former state senator to Michigan-born recording artist Kid Rock.

Wes Nakagiri, a Livingston County Tea Party activist who was elected to the party's central committee Friday night, said Kid Rock, who endorsed President Donald Trump, "has name I.D., is an out-of-the-box idea, and would kind of get rid of that stodgy Republican image."

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The Trump candidacy could be "a template" for a Kid Rock candidacy, and "I'll bet you he would generate as much excitement as Trump did," Nakagiri told the Free Press.

Reaction among Republicans to a proposed Kid Rock candidacy wasn't quite "Only God Knows Why" — a 1998 Kid Rock hit. But many are looking at more conventional candidates and expect more names to surface than those currently in the mix.

"We've won pretty much everything else," said Republican consultant Stu Sandler. "This is something that's eluded Republicans since 1994, and we want to win it back."

Spencer Abraham won an open U.S. Senate seat in 1994, only to be defeated by Democrat Stabenow six years later. She has held the seat ever since. The other Michigan Senate seat, formerly held by Democrat Carl Levin, was won by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, in 2014.

A spokesperson for Kid Rock, a self-described libertarian born in Romeo as Robert James Ritchie, could not immediately be reached.

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate. He told the Free Press at the convention Saturday he is not ruling out a run, but he is not focused on it, either.

"I'm very happy with my day job," Upton said.

Former Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville of Monroe told the Free Press on Saturday he is considering a run.

"I would want to talk to a lot of people" and "I wouldn't make any decision until the first 100 days" of the Trump presidency, said Richardville, now a business and political consultant.

Richardville, whose stint as Senate majority leader ended because of term limits at the end of 2014, said his interest in being a candidate would be heightened "if that (Washington, D.C.) swamp is drained somewhat over the next 100 days."

Ron Weiser, an Ann Arbor businessman and U-M regent who, as expected, was unanimously elected state party chairman at Saturday's convention, said all the 2018 races are important, and he didn't want to rank the U.S. Senate race above others.

The governorship, attorney general, secretary of state, state House and state Senate will all be up for election in 2018.

"We have to find a candidate for the Senate," said Weiser, adding he has spoken to some potential candidates but didn't want to mention any names. "Hopefully, someone will step forward."

Outgoing Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel delivered a populist message to about 3,000 party members who attended the convention as she moves on to chair the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C.

"We have a president who believes that all Americans deserve a government that works for them," McDaniel said in reference to Trump.

"Together, we are going to make America great again," she said, repeating the campaign theme of the man who selected her for the top RNC job.

She told party volunteers that "because of you, and your hard work, and because of our President Donald Trump, Michigan is finally getting the respect it deserves."

McDaniel is a niece of 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney whom she campaigned for that year only to later see him become one of Trump's harshest Republican critics in the 2016 campaign. Party activists give McDaniel huge credit for uniting a party that was divided over Trump's candidacy and winning Michigan for him while maintaining GOP majorities in the congressional delegation, the state House and the Michigan Supreme Court and increasing the party's presence on state education-related panels.

McDaniel got emotional as she thanked her Michigan party staff.

"This has not been an easy cycle" for GOP state central staff, she said, fighting back tears. "There have been times when people who were their friends have been tough on them, were berating them. They stood with me and Donald Trump throughout this entire cycle."

Unity is crucial, Weiser told the convention. He said his mantra for the next 20 months will be "united we win; divided we lose."

Weiser served as state party chairman before, in 2009-11. Afterward, the real estate developer, a former ambassador to Slovakia under President George W. Bush, served as national finance chair for the Republican National Committee.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Kid Rock performed at a Nov. 6 Trump rally in Sterling Heights. That performer was Ted Nugent.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.