Would Republicans rather be right or be happy?

I can’t get a few words from Kevin Rinke out of my mind. 

Rinke, if you remember, made a little money back in the day running a car dealership in Southeast Michigan. He self-funded a campaign for Governor in 2022. Finished second in the Republican primary.

He didn’t disappear, though. He continued to hit grassroots Republican events. He started a podcast. Without being completely overt about it, Rinke tried to create a public groundswell for a future campaign. It didn’t work out. 

A couple weeks ago, he showed up on PBS’s Off the Record to make the announcement that he’s not running for governor in 2026.

The dozens of chicken dinners in dozens of Michigan locales drove Rinke to this conclusion: “Republicans would rather be right than happy.”

The phrase came to me again as I investigated claims of Adora Orlowski, the sister of Republican Secretary of State candidate Amanda Love. 

Orlowski posted a 4-minute Facebook video this week to publicly announce that her sister is not qualified for the job as well as . . .

“She is a truly evil person and will do anything to anyone to gain power or control,” Orlowski said. “Mandy is a snake who lives with her life entwined in a web of lies.”

Admittedly, Orlowski said she and Love haven’t talked in a couple of years. 

The two broke off contract when Orlowski blew the whistle on her sister leaving her husband and five children to shack up with a former GOP state House candidate 10 years her junior (a piece of information verified with two other sources).

Shortly thereafter, Orlowski said she had strong reason to believe her sister cooked up a phony Child Protective Services (CPS) claim against her husband. The authorities came to find nothing, but the Orlowski’s lives were turned upside down for a spell.

Love didn’t respond to requests for comments. Instead, she posted on Facebook that the claims were “deeply hurtful” and “not grounded in fact.”

“Some things should never be taken to social media, and I refuse to turn personal pain into public spectacle,” Love wrote. “I love my sister and always will. That will never change. I forgive my sister, and I forgive the campaign that chose to coordinate this attack.”

 

Up to this point, the only candidate who has made issues of Love’s personal past an issue is fellow candidate Monica Yatooma. Sources watching this race tell me GOP delegates haven’t left Love over the attacks. 

In fact, Love’s support among delegates is growing while Yatooma’s is shrinking.

 

Love has run several campaigns for Republicans in the past. She’s got the rhetorical lines down pat. Outside of the Clarkston School Board, she’s never been elected to anything before.

Meanwhile, a leading Republican candidate for attorney general is a defense attorney named Kevin Kijewski, who was accused by his ex-wife of spousal abuse. Kijewski said these old claims are all BS.

Maybe they are. But to Republican delegates, Kijewski is a hero of sorts for helping get criminal charges against the 2020 Republican electors thrown out of court.

Running against Love for Secretary of State is Tony Forlini, the clerk of Macomb County, Michigan’s third largest county.

Running against Kijewski for Attorney General is Doug Lloyd, the Eaton County prosecutor who once led the statewide county prosecutors’ association.

Both have resumes that General Election independents would at least look at.

Yet Republican delegates may reject both in favor of being “right.” Like they did in supporting Kristina Karamo for Secretary of State and Matt DePerno for Attorney General in 2022, GOP delegates may nominate far-right ideologues with little to no general election appeal. 

Democrats are preparing to either nominate the sitting Lieutenant Governor or Ingham County clerk for Secretary of State. A county prosecutor will be their AG nominee.

Instead of governing, the Republicans may, again, resign themselves to being the grumpy spectator bitching about the Democrat in charge.

To quote a former gubernatorial candidate: It’s as if they’d rather be “right than happy.”

 (Kyle Melinn is the editor of the Capitol news service MIRS. You can email him at melinnky@gmail.com.)