PRESS RELEASE - Ralph Rebandt's supporters sent emails and took to the phones yesterday to call out WOOD TV8 for their bias in leaving out one candidate of the five legitimate contenders remaining on the Republican ticket for Michigan’s next governor.
According to WOOD TV, Ralph Rebandt will be left off the stage tonight because he did not meet their 5% polling standard. This arbitrary conclusion raises more questions than answers because Rebandt’s numbers have risen consistently after each debate, while the other candidates have seen a decrease in support. So, what “poll” was used, when was it taken, and what were the parameters used to determine the results? These are just a few of the questions Rebandt supporters want answered.
With varying polling results taken by other companies which have put all five of the candidates below the 5% Wood TV polling standard and all within a couple points of each other, the race is wide open. The majority of voters are undecided. The Rebandt campaign reached out to WOOD TV to ask for clarification and is waiting for a response. The questions they would, respectfully, like responses to are: 1. What company was used for the poll that was used to determine the 5% standard required by the WOOD TV parent company, Nexstar Media? 2. When was the poll taken? 3. Who paid for the poll? 4. Why was a poll of only 400 persons used to determine the 5% standard for the candidates when there are 10 million persons living in Michigan? 5. What were the parameters of the poll, and what metrics were used? 6. Was the Michigan GOP part of any discussion or consultation regarding the Republican gubernatorial WOOD TV debate?
This is an important question, because WOOD TV stated that the MI-GOP agreed to the debate guidelines which drew this response from Candidate Rebandt, “Well, no surprise there, this is the same MI-GOP that left my name completely off their mail-out poll, and off their email list that offered table space for gubernatorial candidates at the MI-GOP Convention. It’s clear that the establishment is stacked against me.”
Rebandt added, “I was told that one member of the party said they didn’t want me in office because I would listen to God more than them. It’s hard when you not only have to fight the evil of the left in this race, but the evil that resides in your own party.” Rebandt also noted, “In every poll that’s been taken, there’s been one consistent variable – at least 48%, as a low marker, to 66% as a high marker of Michigan voters are undecided, and in a race where no candidate has reached double digits, and where all candidates are within a few points of one another, it’s just plain poor journalism judgment to leave one candidate off the stage.”
When Rebandt, known for his optimism, was asked how not being on this debate stage would affect his race, he smiled and said “We saw yesterday the way people took to the phone lines, and are seeing a mass exodus from other campaigns to ours. People are realizing that we simply can not put up with party politics anymore. Otherwise media, money, and power will continue to determine our elections and we will never see the needed changes in Michigan. I look forward to the other fairer debates coming up in the next few weeks.”
Rebandt has been endorsed by Mike Lindell, Abby Johnson, the woman who fought Planned Parenthood and whose story is portrayed in the movie Unplanned, Dr. Randal Baker, the doctor who sued Governor Gretchen Whitmer and won 7-0 at the Michigan Supreme Court unlocking Michigan in October 2020, and Pastor Mark Burns, President Donald Trump’s religious advisor. Also, Representative Thomas Hooker, Fr. Frank Pavone, national Priests for Life director, and groups like the Michigan Chiefs of Police in Southeast Michigan, Veterans in Defense of Freedom, the Michigan Republican Assembly, Montmorency County, Latinos United for America, Michigan Coalition for Freedom, Friends of Conservative Values, Patriots for Freedom, and so many other brave patriots who are fighting everyday battles in our schools, our courts, our cities, our counties, our hospitals, and our work environments.
Rebandt posits this looming question to WOOD TV: “Don’t the 19,000 people who signed petitions to put my name on the ballot, the hundreds of circulators who worked for almost a year to gather those signatures, the thousands of our supporters, and the hundreds of thousands who are undecided voters deserve to hear from all the candidates that have legitimately made it onto the ballot?” Rebandt answered the rhetorical question, “There is really only one answer, and I hope WOOD TV gets it right.”