LANSING – Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has built a big campaign warchest as she seeks re-election this fall, but there is no shortage of Republicans vying to run against her and tap into voter frustration over early COVID restrictions, school policies and more.

As of mid-February, 13 Republicans had filed paperwork allowing them to raise money for their own gubernatorial campaigns, including a pair of wealthy businessmen, two with law enforcement backgrounds, a protest organizer, a chiropractor and a substitute teacher.

It’s likely some of these would-be candidates will not qualify for the Aug. 2 primary, however. To do so, the hopefuls will have to collect at least 15,000 valid voter signatures by April 19, which is no small task and has been a hurdle for casual candidates in the past.

The winner of the GOP primary will advance to the Nov. 8 general election against Whitmer and any third-party candidates who are nominated at separate conventions.

So who are all these Republican hopefuls who want to be Michigan’s next governor? Read on to find snapshots of each, and follow the links for additional information from their official campaign websites.

Donna Brandenburg: A Byron Center businesswoman, Brandenburg has founded multiple companies and is the CEO of Brandenburg Capital Management, an acquisition and management firm.

She has called election security one of her top priorities, advocates for a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election and boasts an endorsement from Michael Flynn, former National Security Advisor under former President Donald Trump.

Michael Brown: Brown is a former Berrien County commissioner and longtime law enforcement officer who is currently a captain with the Michigan State Police.

Brown says his professional background positions him to fix what he calls a crisis of leadership by “failed elites” in Lansing. He’s decried what he calls a “full-on assault against the law enforcement profession” while criticizing Whitmer’s pandemic policies.

Austin Chenge: Chenge is a Grand Rapids-based businessman who says he started a software and product design company in England and later opened offices in California before moving back to Michigan in 2014.

He’s released a series of proposals to end voting machine contracts, “cancel Black History Month” and make Michigan a “constitutional carry” for firearms by eliminating the need for a concealed pistol permit.

James Craig: Craig is a longtime law enforcement official who recently retired as chief of police in Detroit, where he’s touted his work to keep the peace during racial justice protests in 2020.

Craig grew up a Democrat but has said he transitioned to the Republican Party years ago and now describes himself as conservative who supports gun rights and opposes abortion. Craig supports school choice and promises to “reign in rogue prosecutors” while supporting law enforcement officials across the state.

Tudor Dixon: Dixon worked as a sales executive in her family’s steel industry business before emerging as a conservative media personality and news anchor on America’s Voice News, a streaming outlet.

The Muskegon area resident has criticized Whitmer’s COVID-19 policies as a form of “tyranny” and aligned herself with Trump, who appeared at a recent fundraiser she threw at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Perry Johnson: Johnson is the founder of Perry Johnson Registrars Inc., a Troy-based firm that helps other companies meet standards to qualify for government and industry certifications. He’s also a business author and motivational speaker.

A multi-millionaire, Johnson is helping fund his own campaign, including an initial ad spree that included a Super Bowl commercial. He’s promised to bring his business acumen to government “by following the lead of business and sports and using statistical methods in the relentless pursuit of quality.”

Ryan Kelley: Kelly is a former Allendale Township planning coordinator who gained a following in 2020 when he protested removal of a Confederate statue in his hometown and organized a large anti-Whitmer protest at the Michigan Capitol that resulted in armed demonstrators entering the building.

Kelley urged federal authorities to “arrest” Whitmer for her COVID-19 policies, which he is now campaigning against. He’s called for a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election and was outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots.

Michael Markey: Markey is a Grand Haven financial adviser, small business owner, radio host, and author who says he wants to “end tit for tat politics” and bring “respectability and decorum back to politics.”

Like other Republicans in the race, Markey says he wants to lower the number of abortions, lower taxes and improve education. But he has not prescribed specific solutions. Instead, he says, the way to do it is “by working together.”

Ralph Rebandt: Rebandt is a longtime pastor at Oakland Hills Community Church in Farmington Hills and a chaplain for the Michigan Associations of Chiefs of Police.

Rebandt has appeared at rallies demanding a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election and says he wants to “bring the light of truth to dispel the darkness” and make Michigan a “lighthouse for the nation.”

Kevin Rinke: Rinke is a Bloomfield Township businessman who helped lead his family auto dealership group and has promised to put $10 million of his own money into his campaign.

Rinke has been critical of Whitmer’s economic and COVID policies and says he wants to rejuvenate the business climate, repair the state’s education system and stop “indoctrination” of kids, respect the “rule of law” and “restore faith in our elections.”

Bob Scott: Scott is a Howell-area substitute teacher and vice president of the Evangelical Alliance Ministerial Association.

He describes himself as a strong supporter of the First and Second Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which protect free speech and firearm rights.

Garrett Soldano: Soldano is a Kalamazoo-area chiropractor who built a large online following as he protested Whitmer’s COVID-19 lockdown and subsequent restrictions as co-founder of a group called Stand Up Michigan.

The former college football player has built his campaign around support for personal freedoms and opposition to pandemic policies like vaccine mandates. He was the first candidate to submit signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Evan Space: The Lansing resident is running for the second time after failing to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in 2018.

Space is leaning into his name, promising to establish space exploration launch sites and related college programs. Among his other novel proposals, Space says he would appoint a lieutenant governor to “run the Upper Peninsula” and treat it more like an independent state.