'I'm not doing it for ego': James Craig launches bid for Michigan's open U.S. Senate

Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig has launched a campaign for the Republican nomination for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat, positioning himself as a "passionate" public servant and Trump-friendly outsider in a field of "establishment" types.

In an interview, Craig said his campaign priorities will focus on combating rising crime and Chinese aggression and bettering border security and K-12 education. Craig said he also wants to cut off America's "blank check" for Ukraine war aid, 19 months after the U.S. ally was invaded by Russia.

"I believe that I'm in it for all right reasons," Craig told The Detroit News. "I'm not doing it for ego. I'm certainly not doing it for power. I've been a public servant for 44 years, and that's what I'm passionate about."

Craig, 67, is the second widely known Republican to join the swing-state contest after former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of Brighton jumped into the race last month, making for a potentially messy primary contest next year. Rogers was recruited and encouraged by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Others high-profile contenders still considering bids include former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids Township; and Grosse Pointe businessman Sandy Pensler.

The Senate campaign marks Craig's second bid for a statewide post in as many election cycles following four decades in law enforcement.

In 2022, Craig led the GOP gubernatorial field in polls for months before his campaign ended in the spring of 2022, following revelations of fraudulent petition signatures that kept him off the August primary ballot for governor, along with four other GOP candidates.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer went on to clinch a second term by 11 percentage points over Republican nominee Tudor Dixon of Norton Shores last fall.

Craig by far had the highest name identification of any Republican in that gubernatorial field, said pollster Richard Czuba, who speculated that Craig enters the Senate race with similarly strong ID among GOP voters, especially in southeast Michigan.

"But where James Craig stands out is that we cannot forget it will be (former President) Donald Trump who will select the GOP nominee in Michigan … and Craig seems well-positioned to win that, given the praise that he’s fawned over Donald Trump," said Czuba of the Glengariff Group firm.

"The flipside of that convo is that we saw the type of campaign for governor that he was running. It wasn’t a particularly good campaign, and it squandered a whole lot of money. I think what he does is really scrambles up that U.S. Senate race."

Craig has already made moves toward courting the support of Trump by offering his endorsement of Trump's third campaign for president early last month. Like Trump, Craig pitches himself as a political outsider who didn't come up inside the regular party establishment.

"President Trump needs to win this election, and while in Washington again he is going to need other leaders supporting him who are unafraid of these problems Biden has created, leaders ready and eager to work towards tackling the issues confronting America," Craig wrote in a guest column in the Daily Caller.

Craig said in an interview that he simply believes Trump's policies were working and that was why he endorsed the former president — not in the hopes the endorsement would be returned.

"If he makes the decision to endorse me, certainly I will accept it," Craig said.

Political scientist Dave Dulio said Rogers, who served 14 years in Congress, remains the "favorite" to win the GOP primary. He said Craig enters the Senate race with the same advantages and disadvantages that he had in his bid for governor. His greatest asset is likely his law enforcement background in a cycle when law and order will be a "significant" issue, Dulio said.

"His disadvantages are going to be fundraising and name recognition outside of southeast Michigan," said Dulio of Oakland University. "That's not to say that Mike Rogers is well-known across the state, but I think he will have a sizable fundraising advantage."

Craig said he's not inclined to get out of the race because of Rogers, saying he has something "very different to offer in that I'm not a politician." He does, however, have experience working for decades in cities led by Democrats and was a "JFK Democrat" for a good part of his life, he said.

"We hear a lot of people talking about their ability to work across the aisle and getting things done. Some of these folks have been in those seats, and they haven't done a whole lot," Craig said in a dig at Rogers.

His stances on UAW strike, abortion laws

Michigan will have an open Senate seat because U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, said she won't run for another term in 2024; however, the GOP has not won a Michigan U.S. Senate race since 1994, when former Michigan Republican Party Chairman Spencer Abraham defeated former Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Carr.

Candidates already in the GOP race include State Board of Education member Nikki Snyder of Dexter; Romulus attorney Alexandria Taylor; and first-time candidate Michael Hoover of Laingsburg, formerly of Dow Chemical Co. Milford native and New York Stock Exchange executive John Tuttle last month ruled out a run.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, is a leading contender for the Democratic nomination and a former top Pentagon official during the Obama administration. She is running in a primary race with the actor Hill Harper, former state Rep. Leslie Love and Michigan State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, among others.

"Michigan Republicans’ nasty, chaotic Senate primary has gone from bad to worse. Their intra-party fight is guaranteed to leave them with a nominee who is badly damaged and out of step with working families," Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said in a statement.

"Craig has a long record of dodging accountability and leaving Michiganders behind, from standing against Michigan’s auto workers to backing an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.”

Craig was one of Detroit's longest-serving police chiefs when he announced his retirement after eight years in May 2021 to mount his bid for governor, aiming to challenge Whitmer.

Craig had been appointed chief in July 2013 by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, taking charge of a department that had been under a federal consent decree since 2003. A Detroit native, Craig had worked for city's police force in 1977 until he was laid off in 1981. He then served with the Los Angeles Police Department for 28 years before becoming chief of the departments in Portland, Maine, and later Cincinnati.

Craig ended up raising more than $3 million for his campaign for governor before his bid ended. He's been a frequent commentator on Fox News on matters of law enforcement and other issues.

His gubernatorial race focused in part on rising crime, K-12 education and Whitmer's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed the need for Republicans to campaign in urban areas and claims credit that Detroit didn’t “burn” or see significant destruction like some other cities experienced during the 2020 racial justice protests.

"I do put a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of the prosecutors and judges who have set no consequences for some of these crimes," Craig said regarding, for instance, the looting that occurred in Philadelphia last week.

Craig has said he supports the ongoing strike by the United Auto Workers against Detroit's Big 3 automakers. His first job out of high school was as a line worker on the factory floor of the Chrysler plant at Lynch Road Assembly, where he says he was a "proud" member of the United Auto Workers union, he said.

Craig has said a "hasty" move to electric vehicles will put too many workers out of a job, and wants to eliminate EV "mandates." He isn't on board with the UAW's push for a 32-hour work week though, saying 40 hours "makes sense."

"I do support increasing pay," Craig sad. "With the state of the economy and interest rates, they’re being priced out."

On abortion, Craig said while he’s “pro-life,” in the Senate he would not support proposals to restrict or ban abortion at the federal level, saying it’s a states’ issue. He said wouldn’t support legislation that would effectively overturn a constitutional amendment approved by Michigan voters last year guaranteeing access to abortion.

“I certainly support that the states want,” Craig said. “I think a heartbeat of a child matters. But I'm also sensitive to it being realistic and something that should stay with the states.”

Rogers has staked out a similar position on abortion, vowing he will not "go to Washington, D.C., and try to undo what the citizens of Michigan voted for."

He blames drug cartels for "poisoning" hundreds of young Americans a day with fentanyl and said they should be treated as "enemy combatants."

On Ukraine, James said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of the country was "clearly wrong," but he objects to the Biden administration's position that they will support Ukraine for as long as needed. The U.S. has directed about $75 billion in aid to Ukraine since the war started.

"We could have used that money to help us secure in our own borders. We could have used that money to fix up public school systems," Craig said.

"What about our own country? What about America first? ... I'm not saying that we shouldn't help. But there's no plan, and we just can't have an open checkbook to continue to support another country that — by the way — hasn't shown they're fixing corruption in their own country. I'm about the focus on America."

mburke@detroitnews.com

Staff writer Craig Mauger contributed.