GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Republican Ryan Kelley's arrest this week on misdemeanor charges tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol could help his campaign for governor in the upcoming GOP primary, according to Michigan political observers from both sides of the aisle.
Kelley, a 40-year-old real estate broker from Allendale, was arrested at his home Thursday morning. Prosecutors filed four charges against him, including knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building and willfully injuring or committing depredation against property of the U.S.
In reaction, high-profile Michigan Republicans, including state GOP Chairman Ron Weiser, criticized law enforcement's handling of Kelley's case, and dozens of his supporters gathered outside a federal court building in Grand Rapids for his initial court appearance.
The crowd at the court building included Republican attorney general candidate Matt DePerno, who's running to be Michigan's top law enforcement official against Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel. And Kelley's campaign labeled Kelley a "political prisoner" in a Facebook post.
Thursday's events gave the candidate publicity and name recognition at a key moment in the Republican primary race for governor, said Matt Marko, president of the North Oakland Republican Club.
"Among many Republicans, they feel this whole thing is a witch hunt, and it might bring him a certain sense of sympathy for having to go through an ordeal like that," Marko said.
Other Republicans echoed those comments.
Michigan state Rep. Patrick Outman, a Six Lakes Republican, said there are many people who make up the base of the GOP who believe the probes into the Jan. 6 insurrection, an event that began as demonstrations in favor of then-President Donald Trump, are a sham.
"It's probably going to amp him up," Outman predicted of Kelley.
Federal court records Thursday described Kelley as being an active participant in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, climbing onto portions of the building and removing a covering from a temporary structure outside of it.
At about 2 p.m. on Jan. 6, Kelley stood on an architectural feature and "indicated by waving his hand that the crowd behind him should move towards the stairs leading" into the Capitol building, according to a statement from an FBI special agent.
Kelley's arrest and initial court hearing Thursday came two weeks after Michigan's Board of State Canvassers deadlocked on whether five GOP candidates for governor who were caught in a wave of alleged petition forgeries should make the Aug. 2 primary ballot.
The election board's votes left former Detroit police Chief James Craig, whom many viewed as the front-runner, and businessman Perry Johnson, who had spent millions of dollars on his campaign, off the ballot.
The five remaining candidates, Kelley, Muskegon County conservative commentator Tudor Dixon, Oakland County pastor Ralph Rebandt, Metro Detroit businessman Kevin Rinke and chiropractor Garrett Soldano of Mattawan, are not well known statewide with the primary election 54 days away.
Rinke of Bloomfield Township has been spending the most money on TV advertising. But Dixon of Norton Shores has received the endorsements of west Michigan's DeVos family and Right to Life of Michigan.
However, the portrayal of Kelley as a "MAGA martyr" — an acronym for former Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan — could help him in the race for Trump's endorsement, said Adrian Hemond, CEO of the Lansing-based consulting firm Grassroots Midwest and a Democrat.
Hemond said he currently views the contest for Trump's backing as between Soldano and Kelley.
Until now, the Republican gubernatorial field has been so crowded it's been tough for Kelley to distinguish himself, said David Dulio, a political science professor at Oakland University.
And while being arrested by the FBI is not the kind of media coverage most candidates hope for, Dulio added, it's likely to boost his name recognition.
"It will undoubtedly help his fundraising," Dulio said. "Right or wrong, this is going to get him attention."
Richard Czuba, founder of the Glengariff Group, recently conducted polling on the primary race for the Detroit Regional Chamber's June 2 debate on Mackinac Island. Kelley's arrest could help him among the Republican primary voters who support overturning the 2020 election's results, Czuba said.
A majority of self-identifying Republican voters, 55%, supported overturning President Joe Biden's victory, according to the Detroit Regional Chamber's survey that was conducted May 9-13 of 600 registered voters. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
"It will likely help Kelley in a primary but would be devastating to Republicans in a general (election)," Czuba said of Kelley's arrest.
Brenda Wodarski of Grand Rapids was among the pro-Kelley demonstrators outside the federal court building Thursday.
Wodarski said she hasn't made a final decision on which candidate she will support in the Republican primary but she loves what Kelley stands for.
"What he stands for is the Constitution and truth," Wodarski said.
DePerno, the Kalamazoo lawyer who is running for attorney general, said he traveled to Grand Rapids to greet Kelley outside the court building because Kelley is a friend.
"He’s got a family," DePerno said. "He’s got six kids. And the FBI dragged him out of his house in front of his six kids. That’s not what we do."
Nessel, the Democratic incumbent, highlighted DePerno's appearance Thursday in a post on social media.
"It's become mainstream in the MI Republican Party for gubernatorial and attorney general candidates to support insurrection against the United States government," Nessel wrote. "I investigate and prosecute acts of domestic terrorism. My opponent orchestrates and supports them."
After his arrest, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, a Democrat, tweeted that Kelley's "poll numbers will only improve among Republicans."
Weiser, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, accused Democrats of "weaponizing our justice system in an unprecedented way against their political opponents."
"We are not a Third World nation," Weiser said. "Law and order are the bedrock of our democracy, but justice is not served when it is driven by a political agenda.
"Families and children are now becoming victims of political theater meant to distract from the failures of Democrat policy. It’s shameful and must end."
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(Detroit News staff writers Riley Beggin and Robert Snell contributed to this story.)
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