Ron Boers (born 1979) was a Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 10 April 2023 to 9 March 2026 and Governor of Michigan from 9 March 2026 to 29 January 2029 (succeeding Rivelle Richardson and preceding Karen Weiling). Boers presided over a period of Republican hegemony in Michigan politics caused by the Dawah Party sapping Muslim and progressive support from the Democratic Party, and he oversaw tax cuts that created an economic downturn by the time he left office in 2029.
Biography[]
Ron Boers was born in Jackson, Michigan to a family of Dutch descent. He worked in the auto exportation business before entering politics, being elected to the State House in 2023 as a Republican. In 2026, Boers won the Republican nomination for Governor of Michigan after the term-limited Rivelle Richardson stood down, and he won the ensuing race with 46.5% of the vote to Democrat Mike Allert's 32.6% and Dawah Party leader Noor Alfayyadh's 20.9%.
Tenure[]
Boers inherited a budget deficit of $33 million, as well as a state house in which his party held 25/48 seats, the Democrats 19/48, and the greatly weakened Dawah Party just 4/48 seats. The House voted 41-4 to increase the number of seats from 48 to 60, 28-17 against drug liberalization, 25-12 to keep gender quotas, 26-11 against protest prohibition, 27-9 to keep the ambulance service, 17-12 to abolish the alcohol tax, 23-21 to abolish public housing, 23-20 to approve a copyright law, 19-14 to abolish food controls, 31-15 to approve a state lottery, 24-22 to abolish recycling, and 28-8 against protest prohibition.
On 15 February 2027, new elections were held. The GOP increased its support to 53.72% and its seat count to 32/60 seats, followed by the Democrats with 31.24% and 19/60 seats, Dawah with 12.88% and 8/60 seats, and the Libertarian Party with 2.16% and 1/60 seats. Two weeks later, Boers won re-election with 41.5% of the vote to Allert's 26.6%, Alfayyadh's 20.6%, and Libertarian Dirk Braggett's 11.3%.
During Boers' second term, the legislature voted 38-13 against a proposed alcohol tax, 33-20 against universal basic income, 25-23 to legalize gambling, 29-26 to reimplement the death sentence, 30-15 to keep fossil fuel subsidies, 39-10 to keep mandatory vaccinations, 33-15 to keep the Olympic games, and 46-10 to limit gubernatorial elections to the two leading candidates. During that same session, Husna Habibi defected from Dawah to the Democrats.
On 31 January 2028, new elections were held in which Dawah made an unexpected electoral recovery. The Republicans fell to 51.44% of the vote and 31/60 seats, while the Democrats fell to 28.49% and 17/60 seats, Dawah rose to 14.26% and 9/60 seats, and the Libertarians rose from 5.81% to 3/60 seats. The Republicans experienced a slight decline, as did the Democrats, but the Republicans maintained their 22-point lead over the Democrats and a favorable position going into the gubernatorial election. Boers proceeded to defeat Democrat Mike Allert by a margin of 62.4% to 37.6% in an election with a 100% turnout rate, reflecting the GOP's growing dominance in state politics.
The Dawah Party responded with four weeks of protests meant to sabotage the GOP's popularity; the legislature failed 31-13 to pass a protest prohibition bill. The legislature went on to vote 53-0 to create "smart cities", 26-25 for a school bus tax, 49-4 to fund agriculture research, 25-15 to keep gender quotas in hiring, 30-25 to abolish the carbon tax, 35-16 against a one-child policy, 32-16 for bank secrecy, 28-28 against making Michigan a tax haven, 32-24 to scrap fishing regulations, 32-27 for protest prohibition, and 32-27 to abolish the consumption tax.
The 15 January 2029 elections saw the state's economic downturn slightly harm the Republicans' popularity, while the Democrats continued their decline as Dawah experienced an electoral resurgence. The Republicans fell to 50.25% and 30/60 seats, the Democrats fell to 26.69% and 16/60 seats, Dawah rose to 18.24% and 11/60 seats, and the Libertarians fell to 4.81% and 3/60 seats. Dawah won two more seats, having engaged in aggressive attack ads against the GOP. In the ensuing gubernatorial election, the term-limited Boers stood down as Karen Weiling defeated Allert by 63.3% to 36.7%.