Mike Cox
American attorney and politician
25
APPEARANCES
9
PODCASTS
Sep 18, 2026
Mike CoxGUEST
You know, obviously, AES is a lightning rod, and he does say things that I think most Michiganders just don't believe in or follow in, right? And it is more of a stretch, quite frankly, with Jocelyn Benson.
Mike CoxGUEST
I mean, when asked if she's for Medicare for All, she merely, instead of saying yes or no, she merely says, I'm for anything that makes health care more affordable.
Mike CoxGUEST
And so the biggest problem is I think some of the The media, outside of what you do, they have to hit her more on not saying what she's for.
Mike CoxGUEST
I mean, in contrast, like, you know, Doug Lloyd, who's a Republican attorney general running for attorney general, or excuse me, nominee, obviously.
0:08
What do you make of the race right now and the current polling that you're seeing, and what kind of campaign is John James running?
Mike CoxGUEST
The big thing is John is just gonna have to keep pounding every day and raise money.
27:57
Um, so I know you have to be fairly diplomatic because you're a Republican and whatnot, but what do you make of the race right now and the current polling that you're seeing, and what kind of campaign is John James running, in your opinion?
Mike CoxGUEST
Uh, I, I think, uh, the poll we saw last week, down by four points, uh, that's kinda...
Mike CoxGUEST
Uh, Republican voters [laughs] tend to be, uh, a little, little later in coming into the fold in terms of closing.
Mike CoxGUEST
Uh, if you, if you remember, Michael Patrick, I was down all during my race against Gary Peters.
Mike CoxGUEST
I was down eight points according to the Detroit Free Press the Thursday before the election, and, and I beat him.
31:18
But I read in MIRS News that you and the former Attorney General Schuette are in an interesting position to note that you think Elie Savit has a pattern of unethical conduct, and that's not just politics?
Lloyd JacksonHOST
Are there any changes? Can you think of any changes you would make to, you know, Michigan law to give donors more control and hold these former candidates accountable for these leftover funds?
Mike CoxGUEST
You know? No, I, I, you know, n- Nolan, I, I was kind of shocked when he called me.
Mike CoxGUEST
You know, i- if you wake up the day after election and you have $1 left in, in your coffers, uh, there's something wrong.
Mike CoxGUEST
Uh, and as I explained to Nolan, you know, I had a, a first horrible poll July 3rd, where John had jumped up 15 points, the first poll we had done after Trump endorsed.
5 MINS LATER
Mike CoxGUEST
Had moved to Las Vegas to work on the Nevada test site as part of an environmental watchdog group associated with Yucca Mountain and got to do a lot of cool stuff from Noosing lizards.
Mike CoxGUEST
But I was... think I said earlier it was a gift like I broke the ice like this guy from nobody knew me and I you know I just finished up my masters three years ago and so they hired me as a regional supervisor and all my employees were like anywhere from five years to 30 years older than me and And I was overwhelmed.
14 MINS LATER
speaker_3UNKNOWN
Mm-hmm.
Chris RenwickHOST
This is pretty normal, standard economic growth stuff, so why haven't we been able to accomplish it?
Mike CoxGUEST
Y- you know, amongst the tens of millions of dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars in political ads today, uh, sometimes we lose sight of the fundamentals, right? Uh, so, uh, we have a Senate candidate talking about Medicare for all, more money in people's pockets, and get money out of politics.
Mike CoxGUEST
But what does that really mean? Well, number one, uh, the First Amendment, uh, kind of limits the ability to get money out of politics.
Mike CoxGUEST
Number two, uh, government's been taking more and more of our money and, and that guy, A- Abdul El-Sayed, wants to take even more.
Mike CoxGUEST
And Medicare for all, it's a great concept, but if- if you're a union member, that means that your healthcare is likely gonna be impacted adversely.
Lloyd JacksonHOST
Where do you believe government is making, you know, everyday life more expensive?
Mike CoxGUEST
Y- you know, amongst the tens of millions of dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars in political ads today, uh, sometimes we lose sight of the fundamentals, right? Uh, so, uh, we have a Senate candidate talking about Medicare for all, more money in people's pockets, and get money out of politics.
Mike CoxGUEST
Yeah, okay, great, but what does that really mean? Well, number one, uh, the First Amendment, uh, kinda limits the ability to get money out of politics.
Mike CoxGUEST
Number two, uh, government's been taking more and more of our money and, and that guy, A- Abdul El-Sayed, wants to take even more.
Mike CoxGUEST
And Medicare for All, it's a great concept, but if, if you're a union member, that means that your healthcare is likely gonna be impacted adversely.
Mike CoxGUEST
If, if you're a senior, that means that there's gonna be less dollars for your Medicare.
Lloyd JacksonHOST
Where do you believe government is making, you know, everyday life more expensive?
Chris RenwickHOST
What ultimately did you see behind the scenes that you felt now was the time to suspend your campaign?
Mike CoxGUEST
I had tied John James internally and external polls the week of June 15th and felt great.
Mike CoxGUEST
and endorsed John, and that just changed the world, right? It changed the primary.
speaker_6UNKNOWN
Jocelyn Benson doesn't have an
Chris RenwickHOST
What ultimately did you see behind the scenes that you felt now was the time to suspend your campaign?
Mike CoxGUEST
I had tied John James internally and external polls the week of June 15th and felt great.
Mike CoxGUEST
and endorsed John, and that just changed the world, right? It changed the primary.
Chris RenwickHOST
What ultimately did you see behind the scenes that you felt now was the time to suspend your campaign?
Mike CoxGUEST
I had tied John James internally and external polls the week of June 15th and felt great.
Mike CoxGUEST
So a little more money, you know, in young people's pockets allows them to buy that first house here in Michigan.
Mike CoxGUEST
What else does it do, Paul? Well, there's 900,000 small businessmen and women out there.
Mike CoxGUEST
And we create two thirds of all the new jobs here in Michigan, across the country.
Ryan ErmanniHOST
What has the reaction been, uh, to, uh, last week's debate on the campaign trail?
Mike CoxGUEST
Uh, I'd like to say it was a little spicy, right? Uh, and Republicans are anxious for a winner, so, uh, I think it was important to have a spicy debate and get issues out there and see where people, see what people are saying and what they're actually doing and the, the things they're talking about.
Mike CoxGUEST
I had a lot of events up north and down, then all, all coming down 75, and everywhere I went, people were happy.
7 MINS LATER
Ryan ErmanniHOST
And, and, and just for, for our audience here who may not have seen the debate, what would a day one of a term of a Governor Mike Cox look like?
Ryan ErmanniHOST
What has the reaction been, uh, to, uh, last week's debate on the campaign trail?
Mike CoxGUEST
Uh, I'd like to say it was a little spicy, right? Uh, and Republicans are anxious for a winner, so, uh, I think it was important to have a spicy debate and get issues out there, and see where people...
Mike CoxGUEST
see what people are saying and what they're actually doing, and the, the things they're talking about.
7 MINS LATER
Ryan ErmanniHOST
And, and, and just for, for our audience here who may not have seen the debate, what would a day one of a term of a Governor Mike Cox look like?
Mike CoxGUEST
Brother, I have no idea, right? We've actually increased $30 billion from 56.8 billion to 86.6 billion.
Mike CoxGUEST
And if you think about that, Steve, that's 3,000 more per year for every single resident.
Mike CoxGUEST
So if you're in a family of four, that means government is spending 12 grand more And you're paying that extra price.
Mike CoxGUEST
You know, it may be hidden in fees and things you don't always call taxes, but we're all paying that 12 grand more per family.
Mike CoxGUEST
And so when people talk about the cost of living, it's not just the fighting with the utilities, which I did and won.
Mike CoxGUEST
There's not a whole lot of coverage and a whole lot of things many of the candidates say.
Mike CoxGUEST
And, you know, At the end of the day, these issues we talked about last night aren't big secrets in the sense that Jocelyn Benson's team knows that he got $2 million from the MEDC and didn't pay it back.
Chris RenwickHOST
How important are those in building Michigan back to where we should be as a top 10 state population-wise, but not in the education system?
Mike CoxGUEST
I'm a firm believer the more people hear me talk, and the more they hear me talk about what I want to do to fix education here in Michigan, what I want to do to turn our economy around, that the more voters I'll get.
3:53
And he's going to have to answer it once and for all in front of everybody.
Mike CoxGUEST
And the more they hear me talk about what I want to do to fix education here in Michigan, what I want to do to turn our economy around, that the more voters I'll get.
Rachel SmolkovitzGUEST
In a nutshell, importing cheap foreign parts from China is hurting the U.S. auto industry.
Mike CoxGUEST
Ladies and gentlemen, I think it's kind of fitting, and please let me know or raise your hand if you can't hear me.
Mike CoxGUEST
I think it's kind of fitting that it's a beautiful sunny day here because they say that sunshine is the best antiseptic.
Mike CoxGUEST
Today's press conference is about John James saying one thing in public and doing something totally different with his private business life and profiting off that.
Mike CoxGUEST
Today is about John James putting profits over the people and the jobs that he's supposed to protect in Congress as an elected official from the state of Michigan.
Mike CoxGUEST
Today's press conference is about shining a little light on the truth and identifying the hypocrisy.
14 MINS LATER
LizCORRESPONDENT
what is your call to action for James to get off these cars?
Mike CoxGUEST
And I'm really talking about the everyday concerns of regular Michiganders, right? Folks struggling.
Mike CoxGUEST
And I'm really talking about the everyday concerns of regular Michiganders, right? Folks struggling.
PaulAUDIENCE
That
Mike CoxGUEST
And so now that data centers are coming along, people are understandably very, very upset.
Mike CoxGUEST
They want to have local control over, you know, things that may impact the character of the community.
Mike CoxGUEST
We all pick kind of different communities we want to go to, right? My kid's like urban areas.
Clay MagouyrkSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Last
Mike CoxGUEST
Well, you know, I think the governor's problem is that when she pushed through the Clean Energy and Jobs Act in 2023, you know, the so-called Green Energy Bill, she took away the ability of every local community to control whether wind farms, solar farms, and battery storages could come to their communities.
Mike CoxGUEST
Took that away from them, which had been a right for communities since we became a state in 1837.
Mike CoxGUEST
And so now that data centers are coming along, people are understandably very, very upset.