Republican Ryan Kelley, who is running for governor as he faces charges related to the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot, says he is the fighter that primary voters want, but his opponents see a threat to the GOP’s chances in November and the future of democracy. .
Kelley is a 40-year-old Conservative real estate broker who has used his experience in corporate and social media to secure a spot in the five-candidate race for the Republican nomination for the state’s top office.
In 2020, he drew attention as an activist, criticizing the restrictions of COVID-19, protesting the results of the presidential election and calling for the arrest of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the prosecutor. General Dana Nessel.
On June 9, however, it was Kelley himself who was arrested for a misdemeanor crime he committed during the January 6 insurrection attempt in Washington, D.C. He pleaded not guilty. In an interview, he accused federal authorities of trying to silence him.
“They intend to silence all of us who love our country and want to uphold our Constitution. So stand behind a fighter. And let’s beat it together,” Kelley said of his messages to voters about the pending charges. “We straighten out our state.”
The charges put Kelley, a first-time candidate, in the national spotlight, drawing attention to his campaign that other Republican gubernatorial aspirants have struggled to achieve.
In a July 5-8 state poll of likely Michigan voters, commissioned by The Detroit News and WDIV-TV (Channel 4), Kelley was the best-known of the five GOP candidates.
About 50% of voters said they had heard of Kelley. The second best-known candidate was Bloomfield Township businessman Kevin Rinke, who has spent millions of dollars of his own money on TV commercials. About 41% of Michigan voters had heard of him.
While Kelley seems to be resonating with a frustrated part of the Republican electorate, the momentum behind him has inspired concerns among both Republicans and Democrats.
Some Democrats argue he would use the powers of the governor’s office to overturn election results and try to prosecute political opponents. Meanwhile, some GOP experts predict that Whitmer would easily defeat him because of his far-right views, which would mean losses for Republicans in November.
Rich Studley, the retired leader of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said there is a difference between being in favor of a limited government and being “anti-government.” Kelley seems to fall into the latter category, Studley said.
Studley said he does not believe there is a chance Kelley and candidates like him could win the general election.
“So, I think to myself,‘ What would happen if they did? ’Studley said.
‘Look at making friends’
Kelley’s parents moved her family to Michigan from West Virginia when she was 5 years old. Read also : Political Podcast: How the Democrats turned Georgia in 2020.
The future candidate grew up in western Michigan, attending Jenison Public Schools. Kelley eventually went to Grand Rapids Community College, where she studied electronic engineering, before getting a job at AT&T.
He was a member of the Communications Workers of America union, helping to locate and repair telephone and Internet lines. He worked for AT&T for about a decade. Eventually, Kelley decided to enter the real estate industry as an entrepreneur.
He assembled teams to do rehabilitation projects and built a property management team, he said. He was also interested in network marketing, traveling around the country to learn sales skills. And he became CEO of a company, City2Shore Real Estate, that uses a franchise strategy.
But it was Kelley’s focus on networking that led him to politics about eight years ago. Kelley said she wanted to meet as many people as she could and gather as many business cards as possible.
“If you want to be successful in life, don’t look at making money, look at making friends,” Kelley said of the business strategies she learned. “Get to know as many people as you can, learn about them and see what kind of value you can add to their lives.
“And in turn, you’ll come across people who will ask you if you want to add value to your life.”
Kelley began getting involved in other candidates ’political events and campaigns, including Republican John James’ candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2018.
His networking skills have been at stake in his candidacy for governor. He personally helped collect some of the signatures of the petition he submitted to get his name on the ballot. And he is considered one of the top candidates, although by the end of 2021, his campaign had raised the smallest amount of money: less than $ 100,000.
Activist turned candidate
In addition to her networking training, Kelley has also gained a strong presence on social media, another skill set she has used in her political activism. See the article : Mark Shields, a voice of political courtesy for decades, died in 85.
Kelley and his wife, Tabitha, have six children and have documented parts of their family life in posts on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, where they found followers and are known as “The Kelley Krew.”
Tabitha Kelley’s Instagram page, “This Mama’s House,” has nearly 20,000 followers. In a video this summer, he said he has generated “substantial income” for his family through his videos.
“Ten years ago, I started sharing my life on the Internet, hoping to grow an online influencer business,” Tabitha Kelley said. “Even though the journey has been long, I have been very successful in doing so.”
Ryan Kelley’s campaign Facebook page has 28,000 followers, triple the 8,000 followers on GOP candidate Tudor Dixon’s page, and more than double the 10,000 followers on Rinke’s page.
Since 2020, Kelley has used videos and social media to promote his policy, as he became a protagonist of the protests at the State Capitol against Whitmer’s COVID-19 policies and the results of the presidential election.
In a 2020 video, he identified himself as the “founding father of the American Patriot Council” and called for the arrest of Michigan’s top three state officials, all Democrats.
“I’ll be very brief,” Kelley said in the video. “So I want you to go look on this website so you can be empowered with the information to know exactly why Gretchen Whitmer, Dana Nessel and Jocelyn Benson are criminals and should be arrested and imprisoned.”
Frequent protester
Kelley has argued that Whitmer should be arrested because, in his view, he violated federal laws by implementing restrictions on meetings to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. See the article : Politics at the Bench: The Desires and Challenges of the Pakistani Judiciary.
At an event in October 2020, he spoke in support of members of the armed militias, saying they have “good intentions.” And in a protest in Lansing in November 2020, Kelley made the unproven claim that the Michigan election had been stolen from Republican President Donald Trump.
Trump lost Michigan by 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points, a result that has been confirmed by more than 200 audits, a series of court rulings and an investigation by a Republican-controlled state Senate committee.
“Democrats think you’re all stupid,” Kelley told a crowd gathered outside the Michigan Capitol in November 2020. “Democrats think they can come here and steal this election directly from under you. Guess who. will not allow you. them? “
About two months later, on January 6, 2021, Kelley was photographed outside the U.S. Capitol amid a riot as Trump supporters tried to disrupt Congressional certification for the 2020 election.
On June 9, 519 days later, Kelley was arrested and charged with four misdemeanors in a federal court related to Jan. 6. Charges included intentionally injuring or committing predation against U.S. property and disorderly and disruptive conduct.
In a statement filed as part of the case, authorities accused Kelley of using his hands to remove a deck from a temporary structure at the U.S. Capitol and making a hand gesture to try to get people to “advancing up the stairs leading to the United States Capitol.” building. “
Kelley, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, said he never entered the Capitol building and said authorities were trying to silence him. When asked what he would say to voters who are concerned about the allegations, Kelley began focusing on Whitmer.
“If we really charged Whitmer for the crimes he committed, that list would be very long,” Kelley said. “We have to hold our elected officials accountable.”
‘Sorry state’ of affairs?
Many others do not see the charges the same way.
During a campaign stop in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder noticed Kelley’s arrest and charges as he spoke of potential Whitmer opponents.
“It’s an unfortunate state (of things) when one of the people is a boy arrested for participating in a coup,” said Holder, a Democrat who served under former President Barack Obama.
Similarly, Holder said the idea of talking about arresting political opponents, as Kelley has done, was inadequate and inconsistent with American ideals.
“They’re injecting something into the system that is cancerous,” Holder said of the remarks. “And unless checked, it will metastasize and have an impact on the political body.”
Some Michigan Democrats openly expect Kelley to win the Republican nomination on Aug. 2 because they claim he will be the easiest candidate to defeat in November.
Joe DiSano, a Democrat and longtime political consultant, said he plans to vote for Kelley in the GOP primaries.
“Certainly, he’s crazy,” DiSano said of Kelley’s political views.
On Thursday, Progress Michigan filed a lawsuit in state court arguing that Kelley is not eligible for the November vote if she wins the GOP nomination. The Liberal political group said Kelley’s candidacy violates a clause in the U.S. Constitution that prohibits officials from participating in an insurrection against the government.
GOP concerns about Kelley
Some Republicans also distrust Kelley’s positions, which include a plan to cancel the contracts of the voting machines.
The GOP would remain in a state of “paralysis” if Kelley wins the nomination, said Jason Watts, a Republican and Allegan political consultant.
“If you think Bill Schuette’s post-primary career was stuck in the mud, that’s a million times worse,” Watts said of Kelley as he referred to Whitmer’s 2018 GOP opponent.
Jason Roe, the former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, said he is skeptical that Kelley has received the bounce from his arrest that some believe he did. Due to a lack of fundraising, Kelley has not tracked incumbents with expenses to promote his candidacy, he said.
Trying to be the most extreme candidate in a primary race is not a way to win in November, Roe said.
Similarly, when asked about Kelley, former Michigan House CEO Studley said it makes no sense to nominate a candidate who can’t win in both August and November.
Kelley appears to be among the multiple candidates who are “angry” and “anti-government” while running for “the most important position in the state government,” Studley said.
‘We need strong leaders’
In an interview, Kelley described himself as in favor of limited government, free markets and individual rights.
He said his concerns for the country’s future inspired his campaign for governor.
“At this point in our history, our republic is not doing well,” Kelley said in a July 6 debate in Grand Rapids. “And we need strong leaders who are willing to take a step to make sure we protect these fundamental freedoms for future generations.”
Kelley’s last name could be one of her perks. Michigan has a long history of candidates and elected officials with the surname Kelly or Kelley, starting with the late Frank Kelley, Michigan Attorney General from 1961 to 1999.
Tom Shields, a Republican political consultant, said candidates with an Irish surname usually get a 4 to 5 percentage point increase in Michigan races.
On Tuesday, Kelley took a step toward trying to expand his campaign, announcing that GOP activist Jamie Swafford of Kalamazoo County would be his election as lieutenant governor. He became the first Republican candidate to reveal a fellow candidate preference.
Swafford is a former deputy sheriff for Kalamazoo County and a former ethnic vice president of the Michigan Republican Party.
“We have been committed to the principles that have made this country the longest constitutional republic the world has ever seen,” Swafford said Tuesday at an event with Kelley at the Lighthouse Baptist Church in the Netherlands. “Ryan has traveled the state, like me, and is considering a simple question: what do you want in your government?”
