MACKINAC ISLAND, MI (WTVB) – The State’s Republican heavyweights have all flocked to Mackinac Island for their annual GOP Leadership Conference. Six presidential candidates are scheduled to speak during the weekend event. Missing from the list are Dr. Ben Carson and Donald Trump, who are leading statewide in the polls. But the undeclared winner of this week’s Republican debate, Carly Fiorina, is scheduled to appear. Jeb Bush spoke last night slamming Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. The others are penciled in for today.
The weekend got off to a fractious start when an operative for Rand Paul complained that Rich Beeson, a worker for Marco Rubio punched him in the face in a bar on Mackinac Island Thursday night. John Yob posted a grainy video of the “assault” on Facebook, demanding that Beeson be fired. The Police Chief on the Island says it was more like a shove, and he has forwarded the police file to the prosecutor’s office to determine if charges are warranted. Rubio is not in attendance at the Conference.
