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MUSKEGON, Mich. – Perry Johnson and John James, who both hope to be the Republican nominee for governor, laid out conflicting visions Saturday for what their party needs at the top of the GOP ticket this fall, as part of their final campaign pushes before the primary election.
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Just days before voters will cast their primary ballots, James, a second-term congressman from Shelby Township, made a series of stops in west Michigan. Inside the Kent County Republican Party headquarters in Grand Rapids, James spoke to a room full of supporters and called on the GOP to “stand up and fight socialism and hold our state together for the benefit of our future of our republic and our children.”
“I think that people are looking for leadership, proven, tested leadership, focused on the things that truly matter,” James said at another event with about 30 supporters on a tour boat docked in Muskegon Lake near downtown Muskegon.
Johnson, a businessman from Bloomfield Hills, kicked off a day of campaigning Saturday in Hamtramck. He was in high spirits as he worked against the headwinds of James’ endorsement by President Donald Trump and higher name ID with a barrage of self-funded ads, a Perry Johnson-branded campaign bus and an ever-present mug of coffee in hand.
“We know that we have momentum, but you never really know until you actually see the results on Election Day,” Johnson said outside Juice Box Blend in Hamtramck. “We just feel it. It doesn’t feel like an election. It feels like a movement. I think people are tired of politicians.”
Johnson, who has campaigned on promises to trim government spending and cut the income tax, emphasized Saturday that he has rallied various grassroots camps of the Republican Party to his side and that he is the only candidate to rely entirely on his own money to finance his run. Johnson has spent nearly $31 million of his personal fortune in his bid to win the GOP primary.
That spending, he said, has allowed him to remain independent of quid pro quos from interest groups and businesses, such as those associated with controversial data centers.
“That’s what an outsider brings to the race,” he said.
When asked whether he could continue that kind of funding into the general, Johnson said he wouldn’t apologize for his success. When pressed again on how far he could make it in a general election, he said, “I could probably do whatever.”
Johnson issues warning for GOP
As of Friday morning, more than 1 million voters in Michigan had already cast a ballot in the state primary via mail-in options or at an early voting site, according to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office. Early voting ends for most of the state on Sunday.
Michigan’s current governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, can’t seek reelection this fall because of term limits, providing an opportunity for Republicans to flip the governor’s office.
On Saturday, Johnson criticized James for being unable to win two statewide U.S. Senate races in 2018 and 2020 despite millions of dollars in outside support for those campaigns.
Johnson had a stark warning for Republicans seeking a candidate to lead the party’s slate of candidates.
“If I’m not at the top of the ticket, we’re not going to win,” Johnson told The News. “It’s that simple. The Republicans will lose.”
Mark Gjokaj, a Macomb County businessman and investor in the Juice Box Blend in Hamtramck, expressed concerns over James’ outside campaign funding as well as his decision to leave the 10th Congressional seat open to run for governor this year.
Though James is the one with the Trump endorsement, Gjokaj said he considered Johnson the “Trump candidate.”
“He followed the Trump blueprint of businessman to politics. That’s what I like,” Gjokaj said. “The corruption starts from the beginning in my opinion, when you start in politics and work your way up.”
James pushed back on Johnson’s financial arguments during an interview on The Aquastar boat near downtown Muskegon.
“That’s a fundamental difference in how we see the world,” James said. “I see the people as the solution to Michigan’s problems. Perry Johnson sees his money as a solution to people’s problems.
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“I think we need a leader who understands what it takes to bring people together to accomplish tough things.”
State Sen. Jon Bumstead, R-North Muskegon, campaigned with James on Saturday, saying he believes the primary is headed in James’ direction.
“I think that’s what people are looking for: Somebody that’s positive and not negative,” Bumstead said, possibly referencing negative ads the Johnson campaign has aired this year.
But Mark Price, a Republican from Highland Park, said he already sent in an absentee ballot for Johnson, whom he considered to be more “relatable” than James and less of an “establishment” candidate.
“I like John James as a person; I think he’s been a good congressman,” said Price, who also is running in Michigan’s reliably Democratic 3rd Senate District. “But I think, in terms of a statewide general election, (James) doesn’t have the best record. He lost two statewide elections.”
James on data centers
James said Saturday he wants local government agencies to set Michigan’s approach to data centers, initially sidestepping questions in an interview about whether he would institute a moratorium on such developments.
James detailed his stance on what’s becoming one of the defining issues of this year’s election during two campaign stops in west Michigan, three days before .
“Lansing should not dictate to the locals,” James said. “So that plan is going to be determined by the locals.”
He added, “If the locals want a solution that will lower their property taxes, increase funding for schools and first responders and the like, then I’ll support that. But if they don’t, then I’ll also support that.”
Asked if he backs a temporary moratorium on the projects, as some Democrats and Republicans have endorsed this summer, James said local leaders should determine the direction.
The James campaign then clarified that he supports a moratorium on new data centers until there is a local control standard and until protections for the environment and electricity bills are instituted.
There are about 18 new data centers either under construction or currently being planned for Michigan, according to the website U.S. Data Center Map. Among the upcoming ones is the so-called Stargate project in Saline Township, where a hyperscale facility is under construction on 250 acres of farmland and is expected to eventually demand 1.4 gigawatts of electricity, roughly as much as 1 million homes.
The massive developments have set off a debate within both parties about how to balance a desire to support the growth of artificial intelligence with local opposition to the projects.
Johnson has called for a one-year moratorium on new data centers so “we can dig into the details, demand transparency and make sure these projects are not being forced onto communities without the facts.”
Both Johnson and Michigan Democrats have criticized James for receiving campaign contributions from some developers who work on data center projects.
“Michigan’s next governor must ensure there are guardrails in place before any data center projects can proceed – but John James will always put himself and his donors first, even at the expense of Michigan families,” contended Derrick Honeyman, spokesman for the Michigan Democratic Party.
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This story was originally published August 2, 2026 at 3:44 PM.