DOWNWARD SPIRAL

While former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) is increasingly gaining Republican support for his Senate campaign, some other Republican candidates definitely aren't ready for prime time. According to Politico, the National Republican Senatorial Committee urged one-term Congressman Peter Meijer (R-Grand Rapids) not to run for the Senate, while Congressman Tim Walberg (R-Jackson) pushed him to run again for his old seat instead, currently held by Rep. Hillary Scholten (D). To make matters worse for Meijer, who faces the wrath from the MAGA-base for his first-week-in-office Trump impeachment vote in 2021, Meijer faces an ethics complaint by the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics for failing to file his personal financial disclosure on time. U.S. Senate candidates have 30 days from filing to run for office to file their personal financial disclosures. For Meijer, it's been over 70 days since he filed to run for Senate – and his campaign didn't requested an extension. The lack of transparency is nothing new for Meijer – our review of federal financial disclosure reports from his one term in office show he was always late in filing and we couldn't find the final report that was due when someone leaves Congress. Then there's former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who several Republicans noted would not even make the primary ballot, just days ahead of the former police chief formally withdrawing from the race. While Craig has been bemoaning the dysfunction of the MI GOP party, those in the know report he's been doing it from a familiar place seated on a barstool. His first quarter fundraising was a pathetic $60,000. “Craig will not have the signatures again (to get on the ballot) because he cannot pay the company again,” said one politico. Another political influencer said, “Craig is lazy.”