Reports show that former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is in talks to be interviewed by the January 6th committee, which could have a ripple effect through the Michigan governor’s race.
Reporting this week revealed DeVos, the conservative Michigan power broker, was in communication with the committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol in 2021. CNN cited multiple unnamed sources after the committee interviewed former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Both women were members of the former president’s cabinet and admitted they had discussions about invoking the 25th amendment after the insurrection.
As that plays out, it could impact the Tudor Dixon campaign. Dixon is the GOP nominee for governor, facing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Devos’ support of Dixon was a central piece of her hard-won primary.
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“I think the prospect of her cooperating with the January 6 committee poses a serious problem for tutor Dixon’s candidacy,” said former MIGOP Chair and co-founder of the Lincoln Project Jeff Timmer, an anti-trump conservative group. Despite Trump’s endorsement, he said the pushback against DeVos in the primary left the party’s most ardent supporters fractured.
“Three out of five Republican voters chosen candidate other than Tudor Dixon. She still has work to do to consolidate the Republican base around her candidacy,” Timmer said. “Part of the objection many Republican voters had to Tudor Dixon was Betsy DeVos is support them so the fact that Betsy DeVos is potentially cooperating with the January 6 Committee, which is contrary to the wishes of Donald Trump, does affect Tudor Dixon in a negative way.”
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In a statement, Dixon wrote, “Drama manufactured by Democrats and the media will do nothing to bring down higher costs for food, gasoline, and school supplies brought on by Joe Biden’s inflation. The drama won’t improve our schools, make our communities safer, or improve our economy. Those concerns are my focus and why I’m running for governor. The media’s obsession with DC drama is a distraction from the financial and emotional pain Gretchen Whitmer has caused Michiganders.”
Timmer, however, said her work may still be cut out for her before November.
“This is this is very unprecedented for a nominee of a major party to have this kind of potential fracturing within her own base their own base this late in the election season after the primary,” Timmer said.
Dixon has also yet to name a running mate in which she could go a few different directions; to either appease a heavy trump supporting base or a more establishment running mate to appeal to the middle road of voters. That decision was expected to be made last week, but so far, no announcement has been made with 86 days to go before the midterm elections.
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