Conservative activists and Republican candidates for state office rallied at Fellowship Baptist Church in Clarklake on Oct. 26.

The event, billed as the sixth stop on Stand Up Michigan’s bus tour of the state, brought together conservatives from Hillsdale, Lenawee, and Jackson counties. Jon Smith, secretary of the Hillsdale County Republican Party’s “America First” group, said the event’s main focus was “organizing and energizing the grassroots and voters heading into November’s election.” 

Speakers included Hillsdale Mayor Adam Stockford, former ambassador to the Netherlands and former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, state Senate candidate for District 17 Jonathan Lindsey, and lieutenant governor candidate Shane Hernandez. The event included candidates’ speeches on why voters should oppose each of the three statewide ballot proposals.

Stockford slammed Proposal 1, which would decrease legislative term limits to 12 years and require that candidates release financial information, calling it “two questions in one.” He said it will increase the time a member stays in Lansing, summing it up as “a dishonest proposal by dishonest people.”

Attorney and co-founder of the Great Lakes Justice Center David Kallman decried Proposal 2, which expands early and absentee voting, as an amendment that would decrease voting integrity and open Michigan elections to “outside money from Zuckerberg and Soros.”

All speeches included themes such as combating gender ideology and critical race theory in schools, attacking Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her COVID-19 policies, and economic harm from heightened inflation. 

Organizer Ron Armstrong said the 2020 COVID lockdowns motivated him to become an activist. 

“It was that moment they shut down the schools, told people to stay home, and closed churches,” Armstrong said. “When those things happened, I realized that America was under assault.”

Armstrong also claimed Proposal 3 is a “national template” which will be “used all over the country to accomplish their agenda.”

Hernandez said college students should vote for him and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon because of Whitmer’s record on education and crime.

 “We’re dealing with the issues that really matter as far as their future. We have to have an education system that works for everyone. We have to have safe communities,” Hernandez said. “Ultimately, the big picture is less government intervention, and freedom to go down whatever path it is you choose.”