Editor’s note: Michigan Farm Bureau has coordinated with the candidates for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat and the gubernatorial race to provide their responses to four questions to help you learn more about the candidate, their background, and agriculture-related views. In the interest of fairness and objectivity, staff did not write or edit the candidates’ submissions. Each profile is presented as submitted by the candidates.
U.S. Senate Candidates: Mallory McMorrow, Mike Rogers, and Haley Stevens
Candidates for Governor: Jocelyn Benson, Mike Cox, Mike Duggan, John James, Perry Johnson, Aric Nesbitt, Ralph Rebandt, and Kim Thomas
Perry Johnson – Republican Candidate for Governor
In your words, tell us who you are and why you’re the ideal candidate for Michigan governor.
Perry Johnson is a self-made businessman and problem solver who’s spent decades helping companies cut waste, improve quality, and compete.
In the 1980s, the Japanese were kicking our butts in the auto industry. That’s when Perry Johnson stepped in, writing the book on the quality controls that helped bring the American auto industry back from the brink.
Now Perry is ready to save Michigan through efficiency, fiscal discipline, and the elimination of the income tax.
What do you believe is the most pressing issue facing Michigan residents today, and what specific policies would you pursue as governor to address it?
Many of our neighbors have lost their hope in the American Dream. Between the out of control cost of living, and watching government waste their tax dollars. We must ignite our state, and reignite the Michigan Dream.
We must eliminate Michigan’s income tax to allow workers, families, and retirees to keep their money and live their dreams.
End wasteful spending in state government by modernizing processes, consolidating duplicative programs, and applying performance-based management across departments.
Audit every dime and demand accountability for every tax dollar while protecting public safety, infrastructure, and education.
Michigan agriculture is a major driver of the state’s economy and rural communities. What do you see as the greatest challenge facing Michigan farmers today, and how would your administration help address it?
The biggest challenges are rising input costs, workforce shortages, high taxes, and regulatory complexity.
Farmers are operating in an increasingly tight margin environment, and uncertainty in any one of these areas can have a significant impact.
The best solution is a coordinated approach:
- Strengthen workforce access, including improving and streamlining H-2A.
- Ensure regulations are science-based, consistent, and not duplicative.
- Address energy affordability and reliability.
- Provide long-term policy stability to support investment and succession planning
- A strong agricultural sector depends on predictability and practical policymaking.
Michigan farmers depend on both a strong economy and healthy natural resources. How would you work to balance agricultural productivity, environmental stewardship, and regulatory certainty for landowners?
Agriculture and environmental stewardship go hand in hand. Farmers have a strong, long-standing commitment to protecting land and water resources.
Balanced solutions come from:
- Voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs like MAEAP.
- Science-based standards and data-driven decision-making.
- Collaboration that includes farmers as partners in the process.
- The power to convene stakeholders in a way that allows farm voices to lead these conversations rather than be reactive to radical anti-farm voices.
- The most effective policies are those that support both environmental goals and the continued viability of farming operations.
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