Republican gubernatorial candidate Perry Johnson visits Alpena
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ALPENA -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Perry Johnson visited Alpena Friday to meet with members of the Alpena County Republican Party.
Johnson will be running against Republican candidate John James in the Aug. 4 primary election.
When asked what caused him to run for governor, Johnson said he wants his kids to stay in the state.
"I love my family," he said. "I love my children. I have three boys. Two are 17, one is 22. I want them to stay in this state, and I want our children to stay in the state...what we have is this exodus of our kids going to various locations and I want to change that."
He said that the government has been taking our money and they're extremely inefficient.
"They haven't done what is needed for Michigan in order to make it attractive, and I am the perfect guy to do this," Johnson said. "I've spent my whole life bringing quality and efficiency to companies and organizations."
Johnson said he wants to eliminate the income tax and reform the property tax.
"Every single state that has eliminated the income tax has ignited that state's economy," he said.
He listed Tennessee, Texas, and Florida as examples.
Johnson discussed his plan to start a Michigan Efficiency Government Audit (MEGA) if he is elected.
"You start with an efficiency audit and you have objectives, so you should take a look at what really works in other states, what has really been effective," he said.
Johnson addressed the often overlooked areas of the state, including Northeast Michigan.
"You're not the only one that's overlooked," he said. "You have much of these areas that have been overlooked. And we have to recognize that they have to be represented, but they're not."
"Let's take a look at medicine for example," he said. "We have situations where you don't have enough doctors in these rural areas. You don't have enough nurses. And we have people that are getting older...They're living longer, and as you live longer when you get older, most people need more medical care."
Johnson said that there needs to be programs specifically earmarked for the rural areas.
When asked about protecting the Great Lakes, Johnson said they are the greatest resources we have.
"When you take a look at the Great Lakes, we have more fresh water than any place in the entire world," Johnson said. "And we can't let that go south. We can't let that get destroyed."
He said that one of the things destroying the Great Lakes is the data centers coming in.
"Data centers are causing huge problems," Johnson said. "We know that the sound waves cause damage to babies. We know there are carcinogenic impacts as a result of these data centers."