Tudor Dixon, Michigan GOP spar after loss to Whitmer: ‘An issue of leadership’
'We did nothing but stand with her, so that’s a clear lie,' MIGOP chief of staff Paul Cordes said
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Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon sparred with Michigan's Republican Party this week after her loss to Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday.
Dixon blasted the leaders of the Michigan GOP in a tweet after party chief of staff Paul Cordes sent out a memo dissecting the candidate's loss to the scandal-clad incumbent governor.
The memo sparked a sparring match between Dixon and the Michigan GOP in which both sides blamed each other for the loss.
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MIDTERM ELECTION TRIFECTAS: DEMOCRATS WON FULL GOVERNMENT CONTROL IN THESE STATES
Tudor Dixon, the former Republican candidate for Michigan governor, sparred with the Michigan GOP over a party memo following the midterm elections. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Dixon published screenshots of the memo in her Thursday tweet and said that party leadership was to blame for fighting "against" her on the campaign trail.
"This is the perfect example of what is wrong with the [Michigan GOP]," Dixon wrote in the tweet. "It’s an issue of leadership - Ron Weiser, Meshawn Maddock, and Paul Cordes all refuse to take ownership for their own failures."
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"It’s easy to come out and point fingers now, but the truth is they fought against me every step of the way and put the entire ticket at risk," she continued. "We need fresh leadership at the [Michigan GOP] or Republicans will never have a voice in Michigan again."
"Our state party failed on Let MI Kids Learn and Secure MI Vote," Dixon added. "Because of their failure, we now have Prop 2. We have to do better than this current incompetent leadership."
Cordes responded to Dixon’s tweet in a statement to Fox News Digital by blasting Dixon's tweet and saying the party "did nothing but stand with her."
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"We did nothing but stand with her, so that’s a clear lie," he said. "We turned out more Republicans than in previous midterm elections."
"I’m struggling to find what parts of the memo, based on data from this past Tuesday, she’s struggling with," Cordes continued. "Our memo speaks for itself."
The Michigan GOP’s memo took aim at Dixon by saying it "seems nearly impossible to imagine drawing up a more challenging position for ourselves coming out of the August primary."
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"Following the August primary election, Tudor Dixon advanced as the gubernatorial nominee but was relatively unknown with low name ID and was an untested candidate," the memo said.
"Dixon’s campaign had no money, no statewide operations, and was attempting to transition from three weeks of working for and receiving an endorsement from Donald Trump, into a general election audience with a more unfavorable opinion of the former President Trump than of President Joe Biden," it said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defeated Republican challenger Tudor Dixon to win re-election to the governor's mansion. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
"Historically, our Republican gubernatorial nominees have raised several millions of dollars and built out teams during the primary, with preparations to expand an already strong operation as soon as they advance on to the general. Unfortunately, Dixon did not have that luxury.
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"With almost no cash on hand and hard work to be done to gain the trust of the Party’s grassroots, Dixon had to start from scratch while Gretchen Whitmer and allies were sitting on tens of millions of dollars, of which they immediately deployed, blasting Dixon on statewide TV, digital, and radio throughout, early and often," it concluded.
The memo came after the lackluster 2022 midterm elections, which saw Republicans underperform in a year when a red wave was expected.
That red wave did not come, save for in Florida and parts of New York, and control of Congress has yet to be decided in both chambers.
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Dixon was unable to unseat Whitmer in the midterm elections that took place Tuesday.
The Michigan Republican did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.