The three candidates, all of them endorsed by Donald Trump, are part of a great experiment currently taking place here. Of all the states where the former president and his allies are purging the GOP of traditionalist conservatives, Michigan has emerged as perhaps MAGA’s most critical proving ground, a place where Trump’s level of intervention up and down the ballot is unmatched.

His success — or failure — in electing his unofficial slate will serve as a measure of his clout within the GOP. But it will also signal whether he has rehabilitated his standing in a key battleground — one of the five states that flipped to Joe Biden in 2020.

“Obviously he sees the importance of Michigan as a swing state,” said Matt Marko, president of suburban Detroit’s North Oakland Republican Club, said after a candidate debate last week. “He’s trying to maintain his support.”

In Michigan, Trump has already endorsed 10 state legislative candidates, far more than in any other state. He has chosen sides in close to a half-dozen congressional races — including against the two House GOP incumbents who voted for his impeachment — and endorsed candidates for two statewide offices.