MICHIGAN, USA — Michigan's primary election is Aug. 2 and one of the hottest contests on the ballot is the Republican governor primary.
13 ON YOUR SIDE sat down with the candidates for governor to discuss a range of issues that are directly affecting Michiganders and asked for their opinion and possible solutions for these issues.
Today, we are highlighting Garrett Soldano, Republican candidate for governor and owner and operator of Soldano Family Chiropractic Center in Kalamazoo.
Soldano is also the author of “God’s True Law, a parent’s guide to raising successful children,” and was a football player at Western Michigan University.
Decision to run for Governor
Garrett Soldano decided to launch his campaign after the continued lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Well, you'd have to go all the way back to November 2020. Is when Governor Whitmer you know, canceled Thanksgiving and Christmas, she took away our children's experiences, put them online, again in school, diminish their opportunities to minister dreams. And then she shut these restaurants down to 25% capacity with a 10 p.m. curfew, I think it was at a time. And then I knew that I needed to do something I needed to be more involved than I was previously as an activist."
Michigan's Economy
Soldano says after traveling around the state over the past year and three months, the number one concern of Michiganders has been inflation and the economy.
"I think Americans are paying $300 to $600 more a month. I come from very humble beginnings, I know what that money means to a lot of people. And so if we don't start having some foresight with this thing, and if we don't start getting ourselves out of this hole that these elected officials have put us in, we're going to be in a long hall of hurt," Soldano said.
Soldano says that the one way to stimulate the state's economy is to attract people and businesses who have left over the past 10 years back into Michigan.
"So how do we do that? Well, number one, we have to make sure that no governor can ever do this again, and that's weaponizing the health department. No governor should be able to do that. Because who in their right mind would want to come open a business in the State of Michigan with the threat of a lockdown or restrictions in the next quarter flu season? So we have to limit government we need to cut regulations."
He went on to say that investing in long-term energy solutions like natural gas and nuclear energy will help make energy cheaper and attract businesses back to Michigan. And once they come back, Soldano says that this will increase the state's tax revenue.
Soldano was also very passionate about cutting Michigan's overall budget through the process of forensic accounting, which would include a line-by-line audit of everything in the budget.
When asked about whether or not he supported tax incentives to attract businesses to the state, Soldano said that he understands why these incentives have been used recently but proposed another option that wouldn't include spending taxpayer dollars.
"Why don't we make Michigan so business-friendly and make energy so cheap, that businesses want to come back here? Then we're not using taxpayer dollars, they want to come back here. When they come back here, it's going to attract jobs and families, that's going to increase tax revenue. So again, we have to do everything we need to right now to attract businesses. But, there's got to be an end to this journey here. What we're doing with the overspending and killing Michiganders' pocketbooks with these taxes. We have to do what's right to the people."
Alternative Energy in Michigan
Michigan has many different sources of energy in the state, ranging from fossil fuels, natural gas, wind, solar and nuclear. We asked the candidates about these different types of energy and their plans to address Michigan's energy needs in the future.
"Natural gas and nuclear. I feel very strongly in that, especially when we're going to plug in our automobile fleet. And nuclear just makes sense to me. Because of this, France recycles 90% of the radioactive waste, we recycle zero, why? Doesn't make sense, it is the greenest energy you can get. The byproduct is steam. And so now that they have the technology to recycle 90% of the radioactive waste. And these reactors will run from anywhere from 50 to 80 years, we're finding that's long term. So let's get that initial investment upfront for those long-term solutions."
Education in Michigan
Michiganders have a lot of concerns about education in the state, from safety in schools to the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT). We asked the candidates about several aspects of education in the state, including the teaching of CRT in the classrooms.
"I tell you what, day one, we're banning CRT. That's a fundamentally racist belief system fueled and the flawed ideas of Marxism... CRT is making these kids feel guilty for the things that we have done in the past, they're not responsible, the past people were but we can learn from it. So CRT will be banned on day one. If you want to teach my kid critical anything critical math, critical science, critical reading, critical history. You can teach my kid how to critically think but you have no right to teach my kid what to think."
We also asked about school safety after the recent tragedies in Uvalde, Texas and right here in Michigan at Oxford High School.
"We got to have our schools be secure. One point entry. All right, one point entering that school, there's only one way to get in now you can have exits everywhere, fire code, and everything else. But one point entry. And another thing we have to do because there's evil, horrible people in this world, we've already seen it in New York, what would they do with the grocery store? We see it in Chicago, I called Chicago, they had the most mass shootings than any other city in the Union right now, even though they have the most gun restrictions. But we have to make sure that these evil people in the world understand and know that when they come through that door, there's going to be a fistfight in the phone booth on the other end. I guarantee you if they know that that was an assault target, that they're going to be met with gunfire, they would not enter those doors because they're cowards."
Health Care in Michigan
Soldano wants to keep the government out of health care.
"I don't want it state government. I don't want the federal government involved in health care. But I think if we just bring common sense solutions, this thing and hold these pharmaceutical companies accountable. I think that's how we get it done."
Abortion
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.
Abortion remains legal in Michigan because of a lawsuit filed by the governor in April, and a preliminary injunction filed by a Michigan judge in May. Both are currently blocking a 1931 trigger law in Michigan that would ban abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.
"I am 100% unapologetically pro-life from conception. Okay. I've been very vocal on this, my mom was adopted, if her birth mother would have an abortion, I wouldn't be here. And I know a lot of the progressive left this probably wish that would have happened. But it didn't. And I believe in putting money not into Planned Parenthood, we need to put it in pregnancy crisis centers, we need to put it and reform our adoption and foster care systems, we need to allow these women to understand that when they decide to have this baby, that this baby is going to be loved, it's going to be cared for."
Supreme Court Decisions
We asked Soldano about possible new decisions coming out of the Supreme Court's next session, including the possible overturning of Obergefell v. Hodges.
"This ain't the 1970s or 1980s anymore, right? The LGBTQ community, our LGBTQ community has rights. I have family members and loved ones who are part of that community. I love them just like everyone else. They're going to revisit, excuse me, they're going to revisit all those court cases. But again, you need to accept that and that's, and that's fine."
2020 Election Results
Soldano is a firm believer that the 2020 election in Michigan was not valid and that Joe Biden did not win the 2020 presidential election. Soldano pointed to the recently released "2,000 Mules" documentary by Dinesh D'Souza which allegedly pointed out fraud in the election nationally as well as right here in Michigan.
"I don't think it's a conspiracy theory at all. I think it's just making sure that we're doing everything we can to make sure our elections are integrous from here on out. And I don't care if you're a Democrat, Republican, or Independent libertarian, I believe every American should know and believe that their vote counts just to re-establish voter confidence. So we need to investigate those things. "
Election Security
Soldano says that he wants to secure elections in Michigan through voter ID laws and other common-sense election security measures.
"No ballot harvesting, no mass mailings of absentee ballot applications, elaborating on governmental voter ID. To me, that's just common sense. So yeah, let's investigate it. And if there were shenanigans we need to prosecute them. And if there wasn't great, and if you don't find any evidence, then you just reestablish voter confidence, which is a good thing, too."
Police Shortage in Michigan
Police departments in major cities in the state like Grand Rapids and Detroit have been short-staffed for years now and have been working to increase recruiting and retention. We asked the candidates how they would address these staffing issues in the state.
"I will always 100% back the blue. They need training. My goodness gracious, these folks come when we need them most. Right? They're the true heroes out there. So I will always back law enforcement, I'm always going to make sure that they're going to get the proper support the proper backing and funding to make sure that they're doing their job because we're seeing in the cities that are defunding the police what's happening. Crime is running rampant."
Gun Control in Michigan
"The Second Amendment is not for hunting and fishing. The Second Amendment is to make sure that we still have the First Amendment. And we must always remember that."
Soldano says he does support common-sense laws like background checks to keep guns out of criminals' hands and making sure people are of age to purchase a firearm.
Plans for Bipartisanship as Governor
While Soldano has a few issues that he says he won't budge on, he says he's willing to work with other state leaders across the aisle.
"Obviously, you're not going to change my beliefs on the Second Amendment, on the Constitution on pro-life. But there are so many different issues that we can work together. I think anyone initially that wants to get involved in politics, because you're a public servant. That's what you are, as an elected official, you want to do what's best for the state."
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