Mike Duggan suspended his independent campaign for Michigan governor, citing a toxic political climate driven by President Donald Trump’s war with Iran and rapidly rising gas prices. He said winning would be very hard because Democrats who might have supported him were galvanizing against Washington’s actions. He pointed to extremely high anger toward Trump and Republicans and said public frustration over higher fuel costs had intensified within about 60 days. He also noted that independents have never served as Michigan governor and that third-party candidates typically struggle for the state’s top office. He concluded there was no likely path to victory as oil prices rose and Michigan gas averaged $4.74 per gallon.
"Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Thursday that he is suspending his campaign for Michigan governor citing an increasingly "toxic" political climate due to President Donald Trump's war with Iran and skyrocketing gas prices. Duggan, a longtime Democrat, was running as an independent to replace Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who can't run again due to term limits."
""Democrat anger against Trump and Republicans is extremely high," Duggan said. "In 60 days there's been a huge change in the attitudes of this country. People are feeling the pain at the pump and are angry about it.""
""As long as I knew there was a path for victory, I was going to fight," he said. "I don't see a likely path to win.""
"Since the beginning of the war with Iran in late February, oil prices have spiked more than 50%. As of Thursday, the price of regular unleaded gas in Michigan averaged $4.74 per gallon, according to AAA Michigan. That's above the $4.56 national average. A year ago, the average in Michigan was $3.13. Nationally, it was $3.18."
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]