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Michigan Republicans have voted to remove state GOP Chair Kristina Karamo after many of the party’s leaders demanded her departure after a year of debt and infighting.
According to Bree Moeggenberg, a District 2 state committee member, the vast majority of those present voted to remove Karamo, according to Politico.
Karamo did not attend the meeting and has stated unequivocally that she will not recognize the vote if it is deleted, arguing that the meeting was not official and was organized unlawfully. The current predicament might pave the way for a legal battle over control of the Michigan Republican Party’s highest office.
The internal conflict arises as Michigan Republicans seek to recover from historic deficits in the 2022 midterm elections. This year, the party hopes to flip an open U.S. Senate seat while helping the Republican presidential nominee win the battleground state.
Michigan is one of several swing states in which far-right leadership has failed to overcome infighting and financial concerns. Similar scenarios have occurred in Georgia and Arizona, posing a big dilemma in the 2024 presidential election, in which both states are expected to play critical roles.
Karamo, a former community college instructor, climbed through Michigan’s Republican ranks by promoting electoral conspiracy theories following the 2020 presidential election. She finally received support from former President Donald Trump in her bid for secretary of state in 2022 but lost by 14 percentage points, a conclusion she still refuses to accept.
About a dozen Karamo supporters gathered Saturday afternoon outside the small indoor gun range building in Commerce Township, where the conference was taking place.
BREAKING – Who Should Be Next? Kristina Karamo Ousted as Michigan Republican Chairman with Overwhelming 90% Support for Removal pic.twitter.com/Zbg0C3IIbS
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) January 6, 2024
Barry Doherty of Brandon Township, a State GOP Committee on Policy member, said security would not let him enter the meeting. Before the vote, Doherty stated that the gathering was not an officially convened meeting of the state Republican Party, and any acts made would be unofficial.
“We’re here to let people know—other state committee members know—that next week is the meeting that is official that business is conducted and they can bring their grievances to that meeting,” Doherty said.
Doherty stated that he and others support Karamo’s position on election integrity and other concerns, adding, “I’m concerned that the people on the inside don’t see that and that good progress that is happening.”
Doherty said some attending Saturday’s meeting are “state committee members and guests,” adding, “There are other state committee members who are not pleased with Kristina.”
In February, grassroots activists elected Karamo and her co-chair, Malinda Pego, to lead the state party through the 2024 elections. Less than a year later, Pego signed a petition calling for a vote to remove Karamo.
Last week, eight of the state party’s 13 congressional district chairs called on Karamo to leave, citing financial difficulties caused by insufficient fundraising and urging Karamo to “put an end to the chaos in our party” by stepping down.
Karamo has refused to resign and has sworn not to leave if expelled at the meeting, calling it “illegal” in a recent podcast on the Michigan GOP website. It is unclear whether enough party members attended the Saturday afternoon gathering to make it official.
Karamo did not reply to several requests for comment from The Associated Press.
In early December, party members formally began seeking Karamo’s removal, gathering the signatures of 39 state committee members on a petition calling for a special meeting to discuss the move.
To remove Karamo, opponents must collect signatures from at least half of the state party’s almost 100 committee members by Saturday. The approval of 75 percent of attending state committee members would thereafter be required, though a proposed change passed Saturday to decrease the threshold to 60 percent, according to Moeggenberg, who also stated that it was unnecessary.
The state party will still need to make major progress rapidly if it intends to influence the 2024 election.
According to Karamo, the party had approximately $500,000 in debt as of October, with an additional $110,000 owed to actor Jim Caviezel for a speaking appearance. Karamo and the party are suing the trust that owns their headquarters to sell the property to pay off debt.
The tumult comes less than two months before the state party’s March 2 convention, which will award 39 of the state’s 55 Republican presidential delegates. The remaining 16 delegates will be assigned per the results of the Republican primary on February 27.
Republicans hope to win a Senate seat in the state in November, something they haven’t done since 1994. The party also hopes to reverse a slender majority in the Michigan House after Democrats took control of the state House and Senate in 2022 while keeping the governorship for the first time in 40 years.
