Tudor Dixon will face off against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the Nov. 8 general election, projected results for Tuesday’s Michigan primary election show. With 20% of precincts reporting as of 9:45 P.M., Dixon received 41.5% of the vote, followed by Kevin Rinke, who received the next highest number of votes.
Dixon, a businesswoman and conservative news anchor, gained media attention following former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of her platform on July 29. This cemented her position as the frontrunner among the five GOP candidates just a few days before the election. The DeVos family, the Police Officers Association of Michigan and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce are among others who have endorsed Dixon.
Dixon worked in sales at her father’s steel company before pivoting to media as a commentator on conservative network Real America’s Voice, where she made a number of controversial remarks toward people of Color. Dixon also founded Lumen News, a conservative morning news program for students. Like the other candidates on the Republican primary ballot, Dixon has never held an elected office position.
Bridge Michigan reported that Dixon outraised the other four GOP gubernatorial candidates, with 10 members of the DeVos family collectively contributing over $70,000 to her campaign.
Dixon’s victory follows a turbulent Republican gubernatorial race, with several candidates being disqualified for fraudulent nominating petitions and fellow candidate Ryan Kelley’s arrest by the FBI in June for his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Michigan voters will decide between Dixon and incumbent Whitmer for governor on Nov. 8. FiveThirtyEight’s election forecast for November’s gubernatorial election shows Whitmer being clearly favored to win over Dixon, with Whitmer projected as the winner 95 times out of 100.
Summer News Editor Irena Li can be reached at irenayli@umich.edu.