Metro Detroit Key Stop on 2016 Road to the White House

Ohio Gov. John Kaisch, shown here in a file photo, tested his campaign message in Detroit Monday. He is one of a possible 21 candidates for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. (Photo by Steve Beshear/Flickr)

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Michigan voters have several chances in the coming weeks to see presidential hopefuls as Detroit and the state become important stops the 2016 campaign for the White House.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, tested the viability of his possible campaign with members of the Detroit Economic Club and toured some of Detroit’s reborn downtown buildings Monday, then headed to early primary states South Carolina and New Hampshire.

The Detroit News and Associated Press also reported that famed neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, who grew up poor in Detroit in a home headed by a single mother, will announce his presidential plans at a ticketed May 4 event at the Detroit Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts.

Best known for his work separating conjoined twins, Carson is a political neophyte who only registered as a Republican last November. He had barely tweeted out an announcement in March that he had formed a 2016 presidential exploratory committee before he was apologizing for remarks that being gay is a choice.

On the same day Carson makes his announcement, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will give the keynote address at Oakland County Republicans’ Lincoln Day Dinner at the Suburban Showplace in Novi.

Walker hasn’t formally announced, but polls with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as an early favorite for the GOP nomination in what is expected to be a crowded field.

Bush, who spoke to the Detroit Economic Club earlier this year, will be the keynote speaker at a May 28 Lincoln Day Dinner by the Republican parties of Clinton and Ingham counties.

Also making an appearance in Michigan next month is possible GOP candidate Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, who will keynote the Michigan Chamber of Commerce Foundation dinner.

Related:

• Probable GOP Candidate Apologizes for Gay Remarks
• Michigan Could Become a Presidential Battleground State in 2016
• Gov. Rick Snyder for President? Michigan Patch Poll

Three Republicans and Democrat Hillary Clinton have formally entered the race, which will have wide open primaries on both sides. Republicans announcing so far are Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

As many as 21 candidates could be in the hunt for the Republican nomination. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder hasn’t ruled out a possible bid.