Jeb Bush says Michigan is a critical state for Republicans running for president in 2016. The former Florida governor made multiple stops in Michigan on Thursday.
In the afternoon, Bush was in Lansing giving the kind of speech you’d expect from someone eyeing the Republican nomination in 2016. He touted his record as governor of Florida a decade ago and criticized the Obama administration’s economic policies.
He told reporters after the event that Michigan will be a critical state for any Republican running for president next year.
“If you think about it from an electoral standpoint, I think Republicans need to get back up here a lot,” said Bush, who has not made his presidential ambitions official.
“At the state level, Republicans dominate. But at the national level, for presidential elections, we haven’t. So, I intend to spend a lot of time here if I go forward as a candidate.”
Some Republicans in Michigan have called it a “flyover state” for GOP presidential hopefuls while arguing for splitting up the state’s electoral votes.
If he runs, Bush says he would target young and minority voters in an attempt to broaden the party’s base.
“You have to campaign in places where Republicans haven’t done that well, campaign amongst young people, campaign in the Latino communities, Asian Americans, where – in the presidential race, at least – we’ve lost by pretty sizeable pluralities.”
Bush has been criticized by Democrats in Michigan for saying he did not support the auto bailouts.
