No grassroots, no money, no momentum as James is spinning his tires 

It’s less than two weeks before Election Day, but it’s increasingly clear John James will not be Michigan’s next governor. 

The national money dried up a couple weeks ago. The DeVos-fueled political action committee isn’t making up the difference. The Michigan Republican Party, still trying to find its feet after the Kristina Karamo implosion, can’t make up the difference. Trump isn’t helping. James is left spinning his tires. 

The MIGOP pledged $1 million in TV and streaming ads in the next few days, but with Democrat Jocelyn Benson and her friends having reserved $5.28 million for the last week of the campaign, that’s not making a difference. 

The RealClearPolitics polling average has James down 7 percentage points as of Oct. 20. Once Benson’s final ad blitz hits, the gap may very well hit double digits. 

James is presenting a stiff upper lip. He talked about running a “grassroots campaign” at a recent stop. That could have rolled into a big snowball, I suppose … had it started 12 months ago.  

But it didn’t. Twelve months ago, the Republicans’ gubernatorial field featured seven announced candidates, six of whom were giving the grassroots thing the ol’ college try. 

James? He was nowhere to be found on the campaign trail. He and his folks figured he didn’t need to make the Lincoln Day dinner stops. The three primary debates the MIGOP held as fundraisers? 

There was no John James in attendance. Why open himself up to the risk? That was the theory anyway. 

As it turned out, the approach worked in the primary. James kept his head low. He watched the other candidates burn out or fade away due to the lack of money or resources. 

They figured that if James got the President Donald Trump endorsement (which he did), what’s the point in putting a hundred thousand miles on a vehicle? 

After all, there would be time for that, right? James wrote in his April 7, 2025, announcement tweet, “We’ll have the rallies and the balloons soon – but first, I want to share exactly why I’m doing this.” 

The rallies didn’t come soon. In fact, it wasn’t until after billionaire Perry Johnson announced in January 2026 that James was seen on the campaign trail at all. 

By then, a jaded grassroots community had jumped among seven conservative candidates before landing on Johnson, the only non-James candidate with an active campaign as of the Aug. 4 primary election. 

Bothered that James arrogantly couldn’t make the time for them – just assumed the support from passive Republican voters – many in the grassroots went to Johnson, the billionaire.  

Once James was the only option, there’s no evidence the grassroots enthusiastically got behind him. The “rallies and balloons” he promised in April have been underwhelming. 

Limited media presence. No clear vision. No experience with state government to speak about. Outside of a smiling face from eight years ago, James didn’t present anything interesting for voters to connect with. 

That shouldn’t have mattered. 

With Trump and the DeVos family on his side, James theoretically had the support he needed to pull this off. 

Except … Trump doesn’t routinely give to statewide candidates he endorses. The President raises a lot of money from individuals. To get a sense of the volume of fundraising emails he sends out, I put myself on his lists long ago. 

Since James announced his candidacy April 7, 2025, Trump’s fundraising shop has sent me 3,417 emails asking for money. That’s roughly six per day. 

The amount of TV and streaming money a Trump entity has kicked in to help James become governor since the primary: Zero. 

Trump has given to assist select Senate and House candidates. Mike Rogers’ effort in the U.S. Senate has gotten $25 million from Trump’s No Going Back PAC, according to tracking from AdImpact. 

James never matched Benson’s national fundraising success. He emerged from the primary with $1.449 million in the bank; Benson had close to $6 million. 

Benson’s campaign has averaged $1 million a week on TV since August. James has spent $2 million total. That money is not going far. 

As it turns out, neither is John James for governor.