'The Warfighter Versus The Gaslighter': Kid Rock Stumps for John James in Tight Michigan Senate Race

Reagan McCarthy | November 02, 2020 10:30 AM

Michigan GOP Senate candidate John James received a glowing endorsement from legendary musician Kid Rock over the weekend, in the final days of the battleground Senate race. He dubs James a “real-life American badass” compared to incumbent Democrat Senator Gary Peters, a “career politician.”

An Army combat veteran and businessman, James has not spent his life in politics, as Michigan native Robert James Ritchie, better known as Kid Rock, said in the ad.

“John James was successful before he got into politics rather than use politics to be successful. He wants to help others create jobs and put Michigan to work. He understands Michigan,” he says. “We’ve worked to make our family stronger, get our communities more involved, and help our neighbors first. John is the leader we need in the U.S. Senate. It’s the war fighter versus the gaslighter. The combat veteran versus the career politician.”

James also received Kid Rock’s endorsement during his 2018 Senate bid to unseat Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow, but the current race between James and Sen. Peters shows a much different picture. In a “blue wave” year, James lost to Sen. Stabenow by 6 points, but Sen. Peters is a much more vulnerable incumbent. The final polling averages show a close race in the final days of the campaign.