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John James for Governor

Meet John

Authentically Michigan

John James with his wife Elizabeth, their three sons, and the family dog

Born here. Raised here.
Ready to lead here.

A lifelong Michigander. Proven leadership. Results that are not about party. No empty promises. No excuses.

Home

Born here. Raised here. Raising our kids here.

John James was born in Southfield and raised on Detroit’s west side. He worshiped at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church. He first learned to read in Detroit Public Schools and eventually graduated from Brother Rice. He worked the jobs Michigan kids work — bussing tables, cleaning bathrooms, punching in at the family business. When he left, it was to wear the uniform. When the mission was over, he came home.

That family business started in a garage on Gratiot, on the east side of Detroit near City Airport. It grew onto Fort Street on the riverfront in southwest Detroit near Mexicantown, between the Ambassador Bridge and the Gordie Howe.

His wife Elizabeth grew up in Ada and went to Forest Hills Central. We joke that she was a Ranger before I was. She has deep roots in Kent, but her family has been part of Leelanau for over a hundred years. I have deep roots in Wayne and Oakland, and now I live in Macomb — but my family has had a camp in Schoolcraft County, a place of peace in childhood and again after I came home from the war.

Liz and I know you cannot run this state from Lansing. Michigan is a big state with two peninsulas and ten million people. Its leader should know them — and should be one of them.

Service before self

Formed here to deliver here

My father started with one truck, one trailer, and no excuses. He came from Jim Crow Mississippi to Michigan for a chance, built a business, and taught me that if you have been blessed, you are obligated to be a blessing to others.

I learned that the same way he did: work first, in this state. Then I chose service — West Point, combat, a Michigan company, and Congress — because the job is to take care of people and complete the mission.

I am running for a better Michigan for my kids and for yours. This is not a career stop. This is home.

Integrity. Unity. Example.

Leadership experience

Michigan is a purple state. It needs leaders who can bring people of different backgrounds together to accomplish hard missions — and who hold themselves to a higher standard than they ask of anyone else.

  • West Point graduate. Eight years in the U.S. Army as a Ranger-qualified aviation officer.
  • Led two Apache platoons in Operation Iraqi Freedom. More than 750 combat hours. Combat Action Badge. Two Air Medals.
  • Combat does not care about party. It cares whether you can weld a team together and bring people home.
John James shaking hands at his West Point graduation John James saluting at a campaign event

That is the leadership Michigan needs: people over party, people over any president, and an example kids can actually watch.

Payroll, not talking points

Business experience

Too many people want to be CEO of a state who have never made a payroll. Then we hire lawyers and wonder why all we do is argue and sue. We hire bureaucrats and wonder how we lost so many K-12 students while the administrative class kept growing.

  • Came home to Michigan and led the family company that started in a garage on Gratiot, on the east side near City Airport, and grew onto Fort Street in southwest Detroit near Mexicantown — James Group International and Renaissance Global Logistics.
  • Grew revenue from about $35 million to $137 million and added more than 100 jobs.
  • Supply chain Masters from Penn State. MBA from Michigan Ross. Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

A governor has to know the difference between activity and results. You either delivered for the customer or you did not.

Results over rhetoric

Governing experience

Nearly 40 percent of Michigan’s budget comes from the federal government. A governor who cannot work both parties will put this state at the back of the line.

  • Constituent services first — treated the district like customers, not props. Casework, passports, benefits delivered.
  • Fought for Selfridge from day one: investment, a future fighter mission, and a base that stays the crown jewel of Macomb.
  • Worked infrastructure and used every tool available, including hard procedural ones, when Michigan needed a result more than a talking point.
  • Supported measures signed by presidents of both parties. Proven I can work with President Trump and with whatever legislature Michigan elects.
I have already delivered for Michigan. The next job is to do it from Lansing.