News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Republican candidate for governor Aric Nesbitt, left, chats with Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith while visiting Alpena on Monday. Smith gave Nesbitt a tour of the area and time to chat with residents and local officials.

ALPENA — Aric Nesbitt believes growing up in a small farming community and the experiences of it will help him connect with the people in rural areas of Michigan and help propel him to become governor in 2026.

Nesbitt, a Republican, was born, raised, and lives in the village of Lawton, which only has a population of about 2,000. He visited Alpena on Monday to tour the area and meet residents and local officials. Nesbitt said he worked on the family farm that was carried on for six generations. He said small-town life, culture, and values are things many people crave now, and he intends to help restore those traits for everyone in the state if elected.

“Growing up on the farm, you really learn the value of hard work,” he said. “You learn a lot about independence and basically a step back to the basics, family values, going to church on Sunday, getting a quality education are all things people want back. For me, it’s about our faith, our families, and our communities, and I think we are near a breaking point, and we’ll see if the state is going to let us keep our way of life or rip it out from underneath us.”

Nesbitt said improving education and returning focus back to the reading, writing, and arithmetic curriculum is a goal of his, as is giving people more of a say about what they can and can’t do with their property. He said cutting out the red tape in the state government so people can flourish is also a high priority for him.

Nesbitt said people who live in rural areas like Northeast Michigan often feel forgotten in Lansing, which he admitted sometimes caters to cities with larger populations. He said as someone who was raised in a small town and enjoyed the natural resources similar to the Alpena area, he believes his message and position on issues will be something people can get behind when it is time to cast a ballot during the primary election next August.

“Rural Michigan is so overlooked, and I can assure you that won’t be the case with me,” he said. “The rural way of life is really under threat. Right now, so many folks are trusting the government and the institutions, instead of the family or an individual. Our founding fathers believed in the individual over the state and keeping the family over the government, and it is up to us to say that we are going to keep it that way, not only for the next election or the next generation, but for the next 200 years.”

Nesbitt said he enjoys hunting, fishing, and appreciates the natural resources that mean so much to the people who live in rural areas.

Nesbitt added that he is also a supporter of the 2nd Amendment and will fight to protect it the same way he does now if he becomes governor.

“Doing these things is part of our heritage and our way of life,” he said. “It’s where we grew up, and I think it is under assault every day. It is under assault by the media, it is under assault to higher education, and it has been under assault by the government. The farmer, the hunters, and the fisherman are the first line of defense to protect all of that.”

He said maintaining and protecting the forests, lakes, and air is important, as is letting parents play a larger role in deciding what is best for their children in terms of education.

Nesbitt said he had no intention to run for governor a decade ago, he had no desire to ever run for governor. He said that all changed when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer instituted what he said were some of the strictest COVID-19 regulations during the pandemic. He said the severity of her lockdowns and closures has had deep and lasting impacts for many. Nesbitt said children have fallen behind on their education, businesses were forced to close, and it was done by people who judged for themselves who were important and not.

“With what the governor and her department heads did to limit our freedom and our ability to earn a living, take care of our family, and tell folks you’re critical or not critical, showed me it matters who you have in the executive position,” he said. “That motivated me to run.”

In order to qualify for the general election and square off against the winner of the Democratic primary, Nesbitt will have to defeat several high-profile Republican candidates during the Republican primary.

So far, Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, Congressman John James, and Anthony Hudson have tossed their names into the ring.

On the Democrat side of the ballot, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson have filed to run.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who has served the City of Detroit as a Democrat while mayor, announced he intends to run for governor as an Independent.

All the candidates are attempting to replace Whitmer, who has reached her term limit.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.