Sen. Kid Rock? Michigan GOP Official Thinks It Would Be 'Awesome'

Michigan Republicans are intent on unseating Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow in the 2018 midterm elections, and a surprising name has surfaced — Kid Rock. The Michigan-based country-hip-hop-rock superstar’s name was floated during the state party’s convention last weekend.

So far, no Republicans have announced their candidacy against Stabenow, who has served in the Senate since her election in 2000. Those suggesting Robert Ritchie (Kid Rock’s legal name) say his celebrity status would spark the same kind of media attention that catapulted President Donald Trump first to the Republican presidential nomination and then to the White House.

The “All Summer Long” singer, who backed Trump and 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, has been silent about the suggestion.

It came from Wes Nakagiri, a Livingston County Tea Party activist elected to the GOP central committee, who said that besides his huge name recognition, the edgy musician “would get rid of that stodgy Republican image,” the Detroit Free Press reported.

Dennis Pittman, an Oakland County Republican, told WXYZ-TV that Ritchie “could definitely shake things up quite a bit.”

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“I think he has a great chance of winning,” Pittman said.

Michigan voters haven’t elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 1994. State GOP spokeswoman Sarah Anderson told Fox News Ritchie “would be awesome” as a senator. While no one has reached out to him as a possible candidate, Alexander said she “wouldn’t be surprised if there was a movement for him to run.”

To be sure, Kid Rock’s merchandise could prove problematic — or not, given the tenor of the 2016 presidential campaign. In December, the musician launched a PG-rated line of pro-Trump merchandise. The line includes T-shirts and a ball cap. One of the shirts carries the message “God, Guns and Trump.”

Others are rife with innuendo, including one that calls out Trump haters and another with the electoral map that uses profanity to describe the state won by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

Photo by Ralph Arvesen via Flickr Commons