WOOD Radio Local News

WOOD Radio Local News

WOOD Radio Local News

 

Six Michigan Republican U.S. Senate candidates debate in GR

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Six Republican candidates for a Michigan U.S. Senate seat held a vigorous debate on a wide range of topics Tuesday night at Oak Hill Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids.

The location was 1930 Leonard St. NE, which is west of Perkins Avenue. A meet-and-greet was held at 6 p.m., and the debate began around 7 p.m.

After a brief message and prayer from Oak Hill Church pastor Jeff Carlson, a military veteran led the audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and BlueSkye Riley sang the national anthem plus another song called America's Middle Class while playing guitar.

The debate was hosted by the Kent County chapter of Stand Up Michigan, which describes itself as an organic grassroots group. A Christmas party was held afterward.

Participants in the debate included Michael Hoover, Dr. Sherry O'Donnell, Sharon Savage, Nikki Snyder, J.D. Wilson and Alexandria Taylor

Some of the big-name candidates who were conspicuous by their absence were former 3rd District Congressman Peter Meijer and former 8th District Congressman Mike Rogers, who once chaired the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Another notable no-show was former Detroit Police Chief James Craig.

Other candidates who did not participate in the debate were Grosse Pointe entrepreneur Sandy Pensler and businessman Dr. Bensson Samuel.

Event organizer Michael Farage called them out for missing the debate at the church, which was packed with Republican supporters who were often quite vocal. Farage said all 11 of the GOP candidates had been invited to participate.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker was the debate moderator. Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Kristina Karamo and WOOD Radio news anchor James Gemmell were the two panelists. They asked the candidates direct questions during the first half of the debate, and then read viewer-generated questions during the second half of the debate.

Among the dignitaries in the audience were State Rep. Neil Friske, who represents the 107th House District; and Kent County Commissioner Tom Antor.

Here are some partial quotes from each candidate during their opening statements.

Michael Hoover: "We look around today, and what do we see? We see our national house toppling. Why? Because the foundation is crumbling. And our current leaders seem to know this, but they're just willing to put some patches on the holes, and put another coat of paint and call it a day."

Dr. Sherry O'Donnell: "This is a sound of alarm. We must do everything that we possibly can. We're broken and we need fixing ... We must be honest with ourselves. The immigration is broken. We're letting illegal immigrants in by the droves. Our educational system is broken. We're letting the woke agenda corrupt our children and corrupt our country."

Sharon Savage: "I taught children how to think, not what to think. And the indoctrination that is going on in classrooms now breaks my heart."

Nikki Snyder: "I'm the only candidate in this race that has run and won statewide before. I now serve you on the State Board of Education. I've spent the last six years - that's an eight-year term -fighting for you. Transparency and accountability in education."

Alexandria Taylor: "I am running for one reason and one reason only. To bring righteousness back to government. How many of you know we are in a spiritual battle, we are fighting for the soul of our nation."

J.D. Wilson: "I'm the new guy on the block. I'm not a career politician. I'm an I.T. guy. Small business. I'm here because I can't stand to see what's going on, and I'm a solutions person."

The first panelist question to the candidates asked them to list their highest priorities for national security. Here are some snippets from their responses.

Michael Hoover: "The first big thing that comes to mind is China. Every way you look, China has invaded into our life. They're buying our lands. We have to stop that. They're infiltrating and they've stolen over $54 billion of intellectual property. We need to stop that."

Dr. Sherry O'Donnell: "Our greatest national threat is our open border. We realize that not only is that costing us billions of dollars and every single taxpayer money, because we have illegals coming in. It was said that we have no nation if we have no borders and that's exactly where we are ... we're imploding from within."

Sharon Savage: "The Southern border is our most atrocious threat. People are coming in, we don't know their names, we don't know if they're terrorists, we don't know if they're selling fentanyl. And it's just the sheer numbers are just staggering and very fearsome."

Nikki Snyder: "Make no mistake. The number one national security threat to the United States is actually internal. It's not external. It's our public education system. We are utilizing the U.S. Department of Education and politicized dollars ... to teach things that encourage our students to hate our country."

Alexandria Taylor: "The open border is destroying this country. I'm a criminal defense attorney and I've practiced in downtown Detroit. So I can tell you I've seen a lot. The drug cartel is active in the United States, and that is because of the open border. But also, fentanyl is devastating our communities. It's in the high schools, it's in the middle schools."

J.D. Wilson: "I agree with all of my colleagues. We have a problem with China, we have a problem with the schools, we have a problem with the borders ... and guess who the head of that snake is? Biden! We've got to get Biden out of office. That is what will get our national security back."

The debate lasted nearly two hours. Many more questions were asked and answered. There was no "mudslinging" among the participating candidates. It was civil, with more agreement among the candidates than disagreement on the issues. The debate was generally matter-of-fact in nature and Prosecutor Becker deftly kept the candidates to their allotted times in answering the questions. There were a couple rebuttals to statements, but no finger-pointing.

The U.S. Senate primary election will take place Aug. 6, 2024. Longtime Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow - who first took office in 2001 - is not running for re-election in 2024, so that is why there will an open Senate seat in Michigan.

Democrats running for that U.S. Senate seat are Elissa Slotkin, Hill Harper, Nasser Beydoun, Zack Burns and Leslie Love.

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The six candidates who participated in the Dec. 12, 2023 Michigan U.S. Senate Republican debate at Oak Hill Church, left to right: Michael Hoover, Sharon Savage, Dr. Sherry O'Donnell, Nikki Snyder, Alexandria J. Taylor, J.D. Wilson. Photo: All photos by Steve Katerberg

Some candidates listen to the moderator, Kent County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Becker, during a light moment during the debate. Left to right: Michael Hoover, Dr. Sherry O'Donnell, Sharon Savage, Nikki Snyder.Photo: Photo by Steve Katerberg

The crowd begins to fill in at Oak Hill Evangelical Presbyterian Church ahead of Tuesday night's debate in northeast Grand RapidsPhoto: Taken by Steve Katerberg

Recording artist BlueSkye Riley sings and strums to her song, "America's Middle Class." She also sang the national anthem.Photo: Steve Katerberg


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