Michigan’s GOP Civil War: A Closer Look
Michigan Republican Party in Turmoil Ahead of 2024 Election
Just months before the state could play a crucial role in the 2024 election, the Michigan Republican Party is in turmoil.
Republicans in Michigan — a state the GOP nominee for president in 2024 will rely on for a much-needed boost to take down President Joe Biden — are divided on who exactly is running the state party at the moment. Earlier this month, committee members from the Michigan GOP gathered for a special meeting to vote on the removal of party chair, Kristina Karamo. Nearly 90% of those attending the special meeting voted to oust Karamo as she faces criticism for her fundraising strategy, failing to address the party’s debt, and surrounding herself with questionable advisers.
But Karamo is refusing to step down. She holds that those who voted to remove her have no authority to do so. And Karamo’s supporters continue to fight the rest of the state party, claiming she remains the rightful leader of the Michigan GOP.
Party Divided: Battle for Michigan GOP Leadership
Meanwhile, the faction of Michigan Republicans who voted to oust Karamo chose Peter Hoekstra, a former congressman and Ambassador to the Netherlands under Trump, to replace her as party chair.
Hoekstra boasts the endorsement of Trump, his former boss, as he seeks to unify Michigan Republicans around him and move on from Karamo. Lawyers for the Republican National Committee chimed in on the crisis last Wednesday, writing that they had conducted an “initial review” of the fight over state chair and found that “Karamo was properly removed in accordance with the MI GOP bylaws.” The RNC lawyers, however, said their determination was not a final ruling and could change if additional information is provided, CBS News reported. The RNC later removed Karamo’s name and photo from its website, no longer recognizing her as state party chair.
In a phone interview with The Daily Wire last week, Karamo said the opposition to her and the battle over the state party chair has distracted Republicans from their “mission.”
“We need to be focused on the mission and not ourselves,” she said. “And that’s kind of been the problem in the Republican Party. I got involved in the party in college, and since that time in the party, I’ve watched Republicans cannibalize each other repeatedly because we’re radical individualists.”
Karamo also took jabs at Hoekstra during her conversation with The Daily Wire, calling him a “goofball” who is “wasting everybody’s time because he wants to throw his own weight around.”
“Even though the majority of the committee wants me as chair, Pete [Hoekstra] doesn’t care about that. He’s got a little faction. He’s got the money people behind him, and he’s just going to attempt to keep bullying everybody until he gets his way,” Karamo added.
Karamo’s claim that she still holds a majority of the support within the Michigan GOP is the crux of her argument to remain as chair. While many of the 107 GOP committee members voted in favor of keeping Karamo during a gathering on January 13, those opposed to her leadership and the RNC’s lawyers hold that she was successfully removed from her position on January 6, making her special meeting a week later null and void.
The special meeting held on January 6 by those seeking Karamo’s removal saw 40 members of the committee vote to remove her, which represented 88% of those in attendance as many of Karamo’s supporters refused to attend the meeting. Karamo has since threatened to take legal action against the Republicans who say they have rightfully removed her as the state GOP chair.
Allegations of Financial Instability and Covert Influence
The back-and-forth has sparked a civil war within the Michigan Republican Party as Karamo and her faithful followers argue that the effort to remove her was “illegal” while those who voted to oust Karamo, led by Acting Chair Malinda Pego, filed a lawsuit against her and requested a temporary restraining order, seeking to force her removal. The anti-Karamo faction is seeking to have its position recognized either by the courts or by the Republican National Committee, hoping to bring back donors who jumped ship under Karamo, Hoekstra said, according to Bridge Michigan.
Five committee members of the Michigan GOP, including Carpenter, recently sounded alarm bells, telling investigative journalist Scott McMahan with Bigger Truth Media that the controversy surrounding Karamo extends to those within her inner circle. According to the committee members who spoke to Bigger Truth Media, Karamo is being influenced by an operative named Mike Labadie, who was reportedly registered as a Democrat in California as recently as 2016 before he moved to Michigan and got involved with Republican politics.
JD Glaser, the GOP chair for Michigan’s 5th District told The Daily Wire that Karamo’s removal perfectly followed the GOP’s bylaws.
Karamo, a former community college teacher, took over as party chair in early 2023 following her 2022 election loss in the secretary of state race to Democrat Jocelyn Benson. During her SoS campaign, Karamo aligned herself with Trump — who endorsed her — and focused on challenging the 2020 presidential results in Michigan, arguing that Trump won the state. While she came up short in her effort to win the SoS race, Karamo won the hearts of many conservatives in the state who viewed her as a rising star in the GOP.
Less than a year after taking control of the state party, however, the feelings toward Karamo have shifted among many conservatives, and Trump, who backed her run for SoS, wants a change. But not even a Trump endorsement of Hoekstra as Michigan GOP chair last Friday has seemed to faze Karamo in her attempt to stay at the party’s helm. Asked by Detroit News reporter Craig Mauger if Trump’s backing of Hoekstra changes her thinking, Karamo responded, “Absolutely not.”
For many of the committee members who oppose Karamo, the cracks within the Michigan GOP started to show months before the opposing meetings held on January 6 and 13. Michigan Republicans began to distrust Karamo after the former chair of the 9th district, Warren Carpenter, revealed shocking info about the Michigan GOP’s financial instability.
In September 2023, the party had invited multiple high-profile speakers — such as actor Jim Caviezel — to be featured at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, but there was one problem. The Michigan GOP couldn’t afford the speakers, so it took out a loan to cover Caviezel’s $110,000 speaker fee. The Mackinac event, which the party usually relies on for a huge fundraising haul, didn’t raise any money for the Michigan GOP.
The party’s financial troubles continued as it went into debt and defaulted on a half-a-million-dollar loan. Soon, more committee members would voice their frustrations with Karamo, and it wasn’t just the party’s financial problems that had them worked up.
Crucial 2024 Election Hangs in the Balance
Whether Karamo is officially forced to hand over control of the party to her opposition or she continues her fight to remain as GOP chair is yet to be seen as the party waits for the court to weigh in on the issue.
Until then, the Michigan Republican Party has a lot to figure out before a vital 2024 election.
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What specific allegations have been made against Karamo regarding financial mismanagement and covert influence within her inner circle?
Congressional District, Meshawn Maddock, alleged that Karamo was misusing party funds and mismanaging the party’s debt. Maddock, who is also the co-chair of the Michigan GOP, wrote a scathing letter to Karamo in September 2023, accusing her of financial mismanagement and raising concerns about the party’s future under her leadership. Maddock’s allegations further divided the party and led to increased scrutiny of Karamo’s actions.
The division within the Michigan Republican Party comes at a critical time for the state. In the 2024 election, Michigan is expected to be a battleground state that could determine the outcome of the presidential race. Republicans are eager to regain control of the state after losing it to Biden in the 2020 election. However, the infighting and leadership crisis within the party could hamper their ability to mount an effective campaign against the Democrats.
The battle for leadership of the Michigan GOP is also playing out on a national scale. The Republican National Committee has weighed in on the situation, stating that Karamo was properly removed according to the party’s bylaws. However, their determination is not a final ruling and could change if additional information is provided. The RNC’s decision to remove Karamo’s name and photo from its website demonstrates their support for the faction seeking her removal.
Despite facing pressure from both within the party and from national party officials, Karamo remains defiant and refuses to step down. She asserts that those who voted to remove her have no authority to do so and maintains that she still holds the majority of support within the Michigan GOP. Karamo’s refusal to yield has led to further animosity between her and those seeking her removal, with both sides trading insults and accusations.
The allegations of financial instability and covert influence within Karamo’s inner circle have added another layer of complexity to the leadership crisis. Committee members have come forward to accuse Karamo of being influenced by an operative named Mike Labadie, who previously registered as a Democrat in California. These accusations raise concerns about Karamo’s judgment and decision-making, further eroding confidence in her leadership abilities.
The turmoil within the Michigan Republican Party underscores the challenges they face in the upcoming election. It is imperative that the party presents a united front and effectively articulates their message to voters. The infighting and controversy surrounding Karamo’s leadership threaten to undermine these efforts and could result in a weaker campaign against the Democrats.
As the 2024 election approaches, the Michigan Republican Party must resolve its leadership crisis and unite behind a strong candidate to take on President Biden. The party’s ability to come together and effectively mobilize its base will be crucial in determining the outcome of the election in Michigan. Failure to do so could cost the party a crucial battleground state and ultimately impact the overall success of the Republican Party in the 2024 election.
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