Politics

John James launches bid for Michigan governor

Published

1 year ago

April 7, 2025

Republican Rep. John James on Monday launched a bid for Michigan governor, forgoing a re-election campaign to his House seat in a swing district.

The two-term representative and ally of President Donald Trump said in his announcement on social media that he felt compelled to run because Michigan is “being held back by the lack of strong, competent leadership.”

“For the past seven years, Michigan has been dominated by radical, out-of-touch policies that have hurt our families, our communities, and our economy,” James said on X, and highlighted his close relationship with Trump. “It’s time to get Michigan’s government out of fantasyland and back to commonsense.”

James, who — if he wins — would become the state’s first Black governor, enters the primary race with widespread name recognition among Michigan’s Republican electorate. A survey conducted in January by Harbor Public Affairs found James held a commanding lead among possible Republican candidates at more than 40 percent support, with 35 percent undecided.

In addition to stumping with Trump multiple times during the president’s campaign stops in Michigan last year, James twice secured the GOP nomination for Senate, in 2018 and again in 2020, only to come up short against Democrats in both general elections. He first lost to former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who has since retired, and then fell to Gary Peters.

Peters announced in January that he would not seek reelection in 2026. That move set off what is expected to be a crowded race on both sides of the aisle in a highly competitive state.

Trump has not publicly weighed in on the race.

Michigan Democrats were quick to pounce on James’ gubernatorial bid, pillorying him as a “failing” candidate who is too scared to face constituents at town halls.

“John James has spent his career failing in statewide elections and failing to show up for his own district, so why would we trust him to show up for Michiganders as governor?” Curtis Hertel Jr., chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said in a statement. “At a time when Donald Trump is tanking our economy, Michigan needs a leader who won’t just fight for billionaires, but will fight for everyone – John James is not that man.”

Other Republicans vying for the gubernatorial post include Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, who announced his campaign in January. Former state Attorney General Mike Cox has formed a candidate committee, but has not formally launched his candidacy. Michigan’s 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee, Tudor Dixon, is also considering another run next year.

There’s a crowded field on the Democratic side as well, with Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson formally in the race.

And Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, after being affiliated with the Democratic Party for much of his public career, launched a gubernatorial run as an independent late last year.

James, the only Black elected official in Michigan’s congressional delegation — whose district includes southern Macomb County as well as parts of Rochester Hills and Oakland County — is likely to be a key battleground next year. Democrat Christina Hines, a former special victims’ prosecutor, launched her bid earlier Monday for James’ congressional seat.

James’ first House race was one of the closest in the 2022 midterms, with James defeating his Democratic opponent, Carl Marlinga, by 1,601 votes. He won reelection this past year, in a rematch with Marlinga, by more than 26,000 votes.

Politics

World Cup fuels ticketing reform demands

Published

13 hours ago

June 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Demands are growing for a political reckoning over ticket scams at the World Cup — and beyond.

The National Independent Venue Association and Fan Alliance, organizations representing and advocating for entertainment venues and artists respectively, sent a joint letter to Congress on Thursday, calling on lawmakers to ban speculative and ghost tickets, cases where resellers flog tickets they don’t actually have.

The letter — addressed to Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer — includes nearly two dozen accounts of fans who say they were scammed out of thousands of dollars trying to get tickets to the World Cup, which began last week. The groups are also asking fans to share their own stories with elected officials via the Fix the Tix Fan Action Center that launched last week.

“Every one of these stories erodes the public’s faith that consumers should and will be protected from fraud,” NIVA Executive Director Stephen Parker and Fan Alliance founder Donald Cohen wrote. “We urge Congress to work with us to prevent fraud like this in the future and finally enact ticket resale consumer protections that will protect Americans and ensure affordability.”

The letter flagged fans like Dacy Gillespie, who bought World Cup tickets for her sons on Christmas, only to learn on match day — months later — that the seller couldn’t deliver them. And Skylie Shore, who Parker and Cohen said spent well over $6,000 on tickets to the Scotland-Haiti match on June 13, but was forced to wait outside the stadium because she couldn’t access them as fans marched in on gameday.

“These examples reveal a consistent pattern: consumer deception, speculative ticket sales, and broken-hearted American families at the hands of resale ticketing companies like StubHub,” Parker and Cohen wrote.

In a statement, StubHub spokesperson Jack Sterne said that the platform does not allow speculative ticket sales, and blamed FIFA for users’ difficulty in accessing their tickets.

“We understand that attending the World Cup represents a significant investment in time and money, and we take our responsibility to every fan who books through our platform seriously,” Sterne said in a statement. “Many of the issues fans are facing trace back to the event organizer’s technology infrastructure, newly announced transfer restrictions, and a new app that was launched just a month ago.”

In response, FIFA said in a statement that the organization “can guarantee the validity and delivery of tickets purchased through its official platforms” and that FIFA.com/tickets “is the official ticket sales channel” for the tournament.

NIVA and Fan Alliance are urging congressional leadership to place universal price-gouging limits on ticket resale, enact stringent fines on perpetrators and a violation-reporting mechanism for ticket scams, and require secondary ticketing platforms to produce data on ticket fulfillment and consumer complaints.

The groups are not the only ones monitoring for evidence of shady ticket practices. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway issued a consumer guidance in advance of the tournament, urging match-goers to beware of fraud and promising to hold offenders accountable. And the FBI in May put out a public service announcement, warning fans against purchasing tickets on copycat websites modeled on FIFA’s.

“With the World Cup coming to Kansas City, excitement is high and, unfortunately, so is the potential for fraud,” Hanaway said in her statement. “Missourians should be able to enjoy this once-in-a-generation event without fear of being deceived. My office will hold accountable anyone who seeks to exploit our families, and we stand ready to assist anyone who encounters suspicious activity.”