The race for the Republican nomination for Michigan governor is continuing with less than two weeks until the Aug. 2 primary.
On Wednesday night, five Republican hopefuls took the stage and took on each other in a debate hosted by WXYZ and our sister stations in Grand Rapids in Lansing.
This was one of their final chances to stand out and sway voters ahead of the primary. Many voters still say they are undecided on who to vote for.
According to the Michigan Secretary of State, more than 1.1 million absentee ballots were sent out ahead of this primary, and as of Thursday morning, only about 1/3 have been returned.
During the debate, Tudor Dixon, Ryan Kelley, Kevin Rinke, Garrett Soldano and Ralph Rebandt discussed a variety of topics, from clean water to gun control.
"It's time for real Americans to step up and represent the people," Soldano said.
For him, that means educating our kids the old-fashioned way, without critical race theory, while still acknowledging what he called the scars of America.
Other issues concerning Michigan families are abortion rights and limited access to adoption. All candidates said they are against abortion.
"I hope you'll ask Gretchen Whitmer the same question because she just vetoed quite a lot of funding for adoption in the latest budget so she vetoed a grant for adoptive parents. That would help us reduce that number of 3,000," Dixon said.
The answers on whether that access would apply to same-sex couples was mixed. Kelley said he's "not for that," and Rinke said it was a "legislative issue." Rebandt said he couldn't answer it right now and needed to see how the kids grow up in the home.
As the debate neared the end, the candidates started taking on each other, with Rinke going after Dixon.
"The fact of the matter is the DeVos family owns you, you're our version of Gretchen Whitmer, you'll say anything or do anything to get elected," he said.
The candidates found common ground on loosening concealed carry restrictions. They also called mass shootings an issue of people, not gun violence.
The last scheduled debate before the primary is scheduled for next Wednesday.
