Republican strategist Jason Roe says it was “stupid” for ex-Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to drop out of the gubernatorial race as an independent, insisting “there was definitely a lane for him to win.”

“I do not accept on its surface his arguments as to why” he dropped out, Roe said during an appearance Saturday on the podcast “Detroit in Black and White.”

“I have told this to him, to face,” he said. “I went to the Tigers game with his son Tuesday; that would be the third time that, you know, I’ve argued with him about the wisdom of that decision.”

In a statement in May, when dropping out of the race Duggan said: 

“If we were even in the polls and behind in fundraising, we have a path to winning. If we were behind in the polls and even in fundraising, we have a path. But we’re behind in both. … I no longer feel good about our chances to win.”

Jason Roe

Roe also said he didn’t buy into Duggan’s argument that opposition to the Iran war and rising gas prices was creating more unity among Democrats. Some also thought he had big challenges getting name recognition in different parts of the state.

“You know, Duggan’s argument is…the war in Iran was overtaking the race, my ass,” Roe said. “The governor of Michigan has nothing to do with the war in Iran.”

“Why six months from an election would you make this decision to drop out when you’re polling at 20 percent-plus? You were competitive.”

“I live in Bloomfield Hills. How many Republicans came up to me, ‘Can Duggan win? I can’t wait to vote for him. He’s great.’ It happened several times a week.”

“Duggan’s not a Republican on a single issue, not one, and I had argued that with them when they say that he’s an independent…He’s a Democrat who took the label away from his name.”

“He’s the only candidate in either party…who had a story to tell. When you look at his leadership in the city of Detroit, what he inherited and where that city has gone over the 12 years of his leadership, there is a story to tell. And you can travel the state and point to the accomplishments of that story.”

“Jocelyn Benson does not have a story to tell. John James does not have a story to tell to show people what is possible.”

Roe also talked about Republicans making inroads among Black voters in the city of Detroit.

“Since 2024, the only demographic group in the broad political universe that has moved closer to Donald Trump is the Black community,” he said. “Now, that is primarily Black men who don’t vote quite at the rate that Black women do. Black women have not moved at all; they don’t feel any better about Donald Trump today than they did two years ago. But you have seen some movement with Black men.”