The chaos surrounding the Michigan Republican Party and its chairperson, Kristina Karamo, continues to persist long after factions voted to remove her from her position.
In a January 6 vote, 40 members of the party’s state committee backed a motion to remove Karamo, a Donald Trump-supporting election denier, as chair over concerns over her ability to move the party forward and failing to improve its reported $500,000 debt.
Karamo did not attend the vote, nor did she recognize the results. In a previous statement, Karamo told Newsweek those who called the meeting did so in violation of state laws and that they had “zero legal authority to conduct business regarding the Michigan Republican Party or its State Committee.”
In a follow-up vote on January 13, 60 members of a Karamo-aligned state committee voted to keep the embattled chairperson in her role.
“This is a happy day of remembrance because it represents a renewed unification of spirit and purpose within the Michigan Republican Party,” Karamo said in a statement after the vote. “We can focus on pooling resources to engage and energize Michiganders to join our Party to help us win more elections throughout the state in 2024 and future elections.”
In a Wednesday post on X, formerly Twitter, the Michigan GOP account did a “fact check” against Jonathan Oosting, a politics report for local news site Michigan Bridge. Oosting shared an email from the Michigan GOP which states it is “irrelevant” whether Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, weighs in on the dispute surrounding Karamo or not.
“It does not matter what a District Chair determines when he/her shares their personal opinion of such a matter,” the email read. “While the RNC has not expressed an opinion, their opinion would be irrelevant as well because they may choose to state who they recognize by vote of the Republican national committee but a statement by a Chairwoman or Officer of the RNC. TO BE CLEAR has no effect.”
While responding to Oosting’s post, the Michigan GOP wrote: “FACT CHECK: There is no dispute. The RNC officially recognizes Kristina Karamo as the Michigan Republican Party State Chairwoman.”
The party then shared a link to the section of the RNC’s website which shows Karamo is still listed as the state chairman more than two weeks after the disputed vote.
Newsweek reached out to Karamo via email for comment.
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The debacle intensified on Tuesday as Oakland County GOP chairman Vance Patrick, who considers Karamo to have been removed from her post, announced that he will be running for the next chair of the Michigan Republican Party. A meeting to elect a new party chair will take place next Saturday, January 20.
“We must now elect a Chair that will work to unify the party, offer transparency, and build the infrastructure needed to win this November,” Patrick said in a statement. “My record as Chair of the Oakland County Republican Party speaks for itself. Under my leadership, we’ve unified and empowered the grassroots in the county and given our candidates the tools and resources needed to win.”
Other candidates include former Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra and a previous candidate for chair of the Michigan Republican Party, Lena Epstein.
Michigan Republican Party delegates elected Karamo chairwoman last February after she unsuccessfully ran for secretary of state in 2022.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.