A Michigan businessman paid $192,000 for a Super Bowl ad. Perry Johnson, a 75-year-old presidential candidate in the Republican primary, ran a first-of-its-kind ad by an announced presidential candidate this cycle.

Johnson has never held elected office. He ran for governor last year in Michigan and isn’t well-known outside the state. His ad will run in markets across Iowa, the early GOP primary state.

“The Democrats gave Iowa the middle finger, but we are going to give Iowa the respect and attention it deserves in its historic role as the lead-off state for our Republican Party,” Johnson said in a statement announcing the filing of his presidential campaign paperwork.

He has a simple message. His ad takes aim at Democrats and their big spending. He said that Democrats have “recklessly borrowed and wasted trillions of dollars.” He points out that reckless spending “is making it harder and more expensive for us to live.” It’s the second time he has introduced a campaign using a Super Bowl ad. Last year he ran an ad announcing his candidacy for governor. That race didn’t go well for him. He didn’t qualify for the ballot.

Johnson’s upcoming Super Bowl ad will be his second in as many years. He used last year’s game to launch an abbreviated gubernatorial campaign with an ad that introduced him to voters as a “quality guru” who helped popularize industry certification standards.

Johnson spent more than $7 million of his own money on the gubernatorial campaign but never qualified for the ballot.

State officials disqualified him and four other GOP gubernatorial candidates after determining that paid circulators had forged voter signatures on required nominating petitions.

He said he voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and could “very easily” do so again in 2024. Both parties have failed to address the most pressing problems in our country, he said. He also considered running for U.S. Senate when Senator Debbie Stabenow announced her retirement. He recently wrote a book, “Two Cents to Save America” and it outlines his plans for the country, including the economy and immigration. It’s hard to tell if he is running for president or selling a book.

It’s kind of amusing. I don’t think that Trump or Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis have anything to worry about, though. Johnson said he will be visiting Iowa this week, opening an office, and planning an Iowa bus tour. He plans to make a formal announcement of his candidacy in a few months.

That’s the beauty of America – anyone can run for office. The last time a successful, wealthy businessman ran for president, he won. However, Trump had tons of name recognition and had been in the public eye for decades. That’s not the case with Johnson.

Nikki Haley plans to announce her candidacy in South Carolina this week. She’ll be in Iowa starting February 20. Senator Tim Scott, also of South Carolina, will attend a fundraiser for Polk County Republicans on February 22. Hmm. Will he throw his hat into the ring, too?