Michigan GOP Calls Off Primary Watch Party

Man threatened to shoot, burn party's Lansing headquarters
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 2, 2022 8:08 PM CDT
After Threat, Michigan GOP Cancels Primary Watch Party
Mchigan Republican candidates for governor, from left, Ryan Kelley, Garrett Soldano, Tudor Dixon, and Kevin Rinke appear at a debate in Grand Rapids, Mich., July 6, 2022.   (Michael Buck/WOOD TV8 via AP, File)

The Michigan Republican Party said it canceled a Tuesday evening primary watch party in Lansing after a man came to the party's headquarters and threatened to shoot up the building and burn it down. Lansing police said officers went to the building Tuesday morning in response to a complaint about a threat, but that the person who allegedly made the threat was no longer there, the AP reports. Officers will pay special attention to that area, said police spokeswoman Jordan Gulkis.

Michigan GOP spokesman Gustavo Portela tells the AP that the man also yelled at a female staffer, telling her that he "wanted to enslave women." The headquarters received several threats throughout the week that were deemed insignificant, Portela said, but the party considered the Tuesday morning encounter to be more serious. He said the Michigan GOP still plans to hold a Republican Unity event on Wednesday with increased security.

In Tuesday's vote, several little-known Michigan conservatives vied the Republican nomination to face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, as infighting over the 2020 election has split the party and threatens to hobble the GOP's efforts in the battleground state, the AP reports. Former President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed Tudor Dixon, which could help her break out of a four-candidate pack that has been close to tied in polling during the final weeks, after other top candidates didn't make the ballot because they didn't file enough valid nominating signatures. (More Michigan stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X