GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Once an unknown contender in a crowded race, Ryan Kelley has had a rapid and unlikely rise to the top of the polls. Admittedly, there’s nothing traditional about the way the Allendale real estate broker has campaigned – he’ll be the first to tell you that.
“There’s a lot of things that I’ve done that have been somewhat, if you’ll call it, unconventional,” said Kelley, “not the way that it’s supposed to go.”
For starters, Kelley is running the race while simultaneously fighting four misdemeanor charges tied to the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. Among others, Kelley faces charges for knowingly entering and engaging in disorderly conduct in restricted buildings or grounds and engaging in an act of physical violence against a person or property. But since his arrest on June 9th, his poll numbers have skyrocketed.
“People see me as a fighter, people see me as somebody that stands for what I believe in,” he said of the charges. “Did I go inside the Capitol building that day? No, I did not. Did I fight with police officers that day? No, I did not. I was there exercising my first amendment, bringing grievances to the government.”
Kelley, who was born in West Virginia and moved with his family to Michigan at the age of 5, says the race for Michigan governor is deeply personal for him.
“I’m not a carpet bagger, I didn’t move from somewhere else, I wasn’t transplanted from somewhere different,” he said. “This is my home, this is where I’ve lived most of my life.”
A product of the Jenison Public School system, Kelley and his wife now homeschool their six children. In fact, he says his top issue is education, which he sees through the lens of alternative learning. After a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing state dollars to be put towards private and religious education, Kelley wants to open the door in Michigan for taxpayer dollars to fund those types of learning.
“I do want to see the money follow the student,” he said. “We’ve seen that right now, with the homeschool laws, the government is very non-evasive, which is the way it should be. So I would not sign any type of legislation that would change the government involvement in private or home schooling.”
Kelley, who rose to relevancy after a battle over whether or not to keep a controversial Civil War statue standing at an Allendale park, says he believes deeply in personal freedoms.
He’s pro-life, except when the life of the mother is at risk, staunchly against new pandemic orders and mask mandates, and believes in Constitutional carry – a form of gun policy that would allow anyone to carry a firearm without a permit or license.
Earlier this month, Kelley became the first candidate in the GOP pool to announce a running mate, picking Jamie Swafford of southwest Michigan to join his ticket. Swafford, who was also reportedly at the Capitol on January 6th, is a former Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Deputy and current police records clerk in Portage.
“I wanted to have that decision made before the primary so people wouldn’t be surprised on the type of people I surround myself with after I win the nomination,” said Kelley of the early pick.
Despite seeing himself as far from politics-as-normal as one could be, Kelley still said he would welcome the endorsement of former president Donald Trump, but also said it would be “very interesting” for have the figurehead of the Republican party stay out of the race altogether.
“He’s his own individual, he’s made lots of different decisions for races even here in the state of Michigan,” said Kelley. “But I do believe that it would be very interesting for him to sit this one out and let the people of Michigan determine what they think based on the attributes of the specific candidates.”
Voters will make that decision on August 2nd. Polls are open in Michigan from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
To find your polling place or get other voter information, click here.
