Republican Ryan Kelley said he’s running for governor because he sees too many self-serving people and not enough who want to do the right thing in the government today.
“Too many times you have the people who would probably be great for the job just sitting on the sidelines, running their business, living their life, enjoying the American dream, because they don’t want to deal with getting involved and being beat up a little bit,” Kelley said.
Kelley, the owner of his own real estate firm from Allendale, is one of more than a dozen candidates who seek the Republican nomination to take on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic incumbent. The primary is on Aug. 2.
“A lot of prayer went into where to specifically go,” Kelley said. “God’s number one in my life, as well as my relationship with my wife, and the Lord being the center of our marriage. So, lots of prayer, lots of talking between my wife and I, and there was a path that led this direction, so I’m following it as long as God keeps opening up those doors.”
Since announcing his candidacy, Kelley said he has spent time traveling around the state learning about people’s expectations.
The top priority for many citizens around the state is to end COVID-19 restrictions, Kelley said.
“People are over the pandemic” Kelley said. “We’re done. We’re finished.”
Kelley said that the slogan “14 days to flatten the curve” was ineffective with government officials seeking to take peoples’ jobs and control where they can participate in society.
“That’s not happening here in Michigan, but places like New York, California, it’s absolutely happening,” Kelley said. “It’s an election year, so Gretchen’s on her best behavior, but if it wasn’t an election year, you best believe a lot of those same restrictions would be here.”
Day One of Kelley’s First 100 Days Plan involves canceling all emergency orders statewide and eliminating all mandates and executive orders that have to do with the pandemic.
“If Gretchen weasels her way back into the governor’s seat, expect vaccine mandates,” Kelley said. “She’ll have another four years to do what she pleases. If somebody wants to wear a mask, they should feel comfortable doing so not under propaganda or coercion, but the fact that they feel they’re protecting themselves.”
Kelley’s other Day One objectives are to cancel “Dominion, ES&S, and Hart electronic voting machine contracts” with the state of Michigan, according to his website.
“Traveling around the state, the number one, top issue that I have heard is election integrity,” Kelley said. “The 2020 election was garbage. It was a fraudulent election beyond the scope that we probably could even wrap our heads around.”
Kelley recently appeared in a viral video on Twitter, telling listeners to unplug voting machines if they witness fraud.
“If you see something you don’t like with the machines,” Kelley said, “unplug it from the wall.”
Several have taken to Twitter against Kelley, such as radio host and lawyer Qasim Rashid, who called this “terrorism.”
“If you’re working the next election, and you witness fraud and you see something that you don’t like that’s going on with the machines, unplug the machines, take control of the situation,” Kelley said. “The left-wing media takes that, made it look like I’m telling random people, ‘After you cast your vote, go over there and unplug the machine or just start walking into precincts and unplug the machine.”
According to Ballotpedia.org, Kelley’s campaign has spent $67,180, ranking sixth among his competitors. Kelley said this isn’t an issue at all.
“Dick DeVos, in 2006, spent $35 million aiming to defeat Jennifer Granholm, who was beatable back in 2006. He lost by 14%,” Kelley said. “For us to think that money is going to be the sole determining factor in this race, and who beats Whitmer, I think we’re setting ourselves up for another 2006.”
With such a crowded field of 14 candidates for the Republican nomination, Kelley said his history of conservative activism sets him apart.
“The April 30, 2020 rally at the capital, I planned that, I hosted that, the permits for the event were in my name, so very early on I was speaking out against the lockdowns, that was during a stay-at-home order and I’m hosting protests on the steps of the capitol,” Kelley said. “It’s walking the walk, all these other candidates, they’re against this stuff now, but stayed silent during the heat of the moment.”
In June of 2020, Kelley organized a counter-protest in front of a Civil War statue in downtown Allendale to ensure that protesters did not forcibly take it down.
“In July of 2020, I was encouraging the FBI and the DOJ to arrest Whitmer,” Kelley said. “None of the other candidates were walking that kind of walk, they were all silent.”
Citing a recent uptick in state spending, Kelley criticized Whitmer’s fiscal policies.
“She’s trying to play moderate, she’s almost trying to play Republican so that she can win back votes,” Kelley said. “She’s just driving up the price of everything all around us.”
In a year where Whitmer’s approval rating has dropped below 50% at times, Kelley said the incumbent is vulnerable to a challenge and claimed he is the best candidate to run against her.
“We need someone that’s not going to be fearful to call her out, but be able to communicate real, true solutions,” Kelley said. “If we think that just going into a debate with her or going into some form of tit-for-tat type thing talking about how bad she is, I don’t think that’s going to cut it. We have to be able to communicate and have strong solutions and the confidence of Michigan voters, that whatever those solutions are, can be executed by our next governor.”