The odds are good today that if you are looking for Republican candidates, you will find them in Michigan.
Neurosurgeon and author Ben Carson officially announced his candidacy in his hometown of Detroit, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is attending a rally in Grand Rapids, and Scott Walker has two Michigan fundraising events on his schedule,
reports The Detroit Free-Press.
And Vice President Joe Biden was in the state Sunday to address the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner.
One of the reasons why the Great Lakes State is drawing so much attention is that despite its relatively late primary, which is March 8, it is seen as an invaluable source of fundraising dollars, said the Free Press.
During the 2012 election cycle, more than $16 million was donated by individual Michigan donors, and that does not account for the additional millions contributed by various PACs.
For Walker, however, Michigan and other Midwestern states are an integral part of his strategy to get to the White House.
"The path for a Republican to win the presidency comes through the Midwest. It comes from Iowa and Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio and we're even going to include Pennsylvania because they're part of the Big Ten,"
he told Bloomberg News recently.
"We need to have a powerful leader at the top of that ticket who can not only carry the state of Iowa for the presidential election, but who makes sure we energize our grassroots on the doors and on the phones and in all of our activities."
"Michigan is always going to be an important state because it's a big state. But in the past, the way the calendar works, there was a good presumption of who the nominee is going to be before the primary hit Michigan. But this is going to be a battle much longer in the primary process. And Michigan is early enough to be significant," Mitt Romney's former deputy campaign manager, Katie Packer Gage, tells the Free Press.
While Walker has emerged as a major force in the GOP primary despite having yet to formally announce his candidacy, he could face some new competition for the Midwestern vote from Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, both of whom are weighing running for president,
reports The Associated Press.
While it remains unknown whether Walker's touring will pay off in terms of voter support, it is reaping financial rewards.
According to a
New York Times analysis of campaign finance data, almost half of the nation's top 250 Republican donors already have contributed to Walker's gubernatorial campaigns, giving him strong ties to the party's major fundraisers, compared with 30 percent who have given to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, 20 percent to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and 10 percent to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
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