It has been suggested that Malinda Pego be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2024. |
Michigan Republican Party | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Pete Hoekstra [1] |
Senate Leader | Aric Nesbitt |
House Leader | Matt Hall |
Founded | July 6, 1854 , in Jackson, Michigan |
Headquarters | Lansing, Michigan |
Student wing | Michigan Federation of College Republicans |
Youth wing | Michigan Young Republicans Michigan Teen Age Republicans |
Women's wing | Republican Women's Federation of Michigan |
Ideology | Conservatism |
Political position | Right-wing [2] [3] [4] |
National affiliation | Republican Party |
Colors | Red |
Michigan House of Representatives | 54 / 110 |
Michigan Senate | 18 / 38 |
Statewide Executive Offices | 0 / 4 |
U.S. House of Representatives | 6 / 13 |
U.S. Senate | 0 / 2 |
Website | |
Official website (Hoekstra) Karamo faction website | |
The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, United States, sometimes referred to as MIGOP.
Ronna Romney McDaniel was the chairwoman of the party, having been elected in 2015 by delegates to the Republican State Convention, in 2017, McDaniel became Republican National Committee Chairwoman, serving until 2024. [5] The Michigan Republican Party hosts a biennial political conference at the Mackinac Island Grand Hotel called the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference. The event features notable national Republicans, senators, governors, and presidential candidates. [6]
Even though the Michigan Republican Party has historically been characterized by conservatism, the party took a hard-right turn after Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. [7] [8] [9] [10] After the 2020 United States elections, the Michigan Republican Party pushed false claims of fraud and sought to overturn the election results. [11] [12] [13] A months-long Republican investigation found there was no evidence of widespread fraud and recommended for the attorney general to investigate some who had made such allegations for personal gain. [14]
Starting in 2023 and as a result of the 2022 elections, the party has no substantial political power in the state. The Republican Party has minorities in both chambers of the state legislature and its U.S. House delegation, as well as neither of the state's U.S. Senate seats, and no statewide executive offices.
Republicans have been elected to the governorship of Michigan in 27 of 48 gubernatorial elections. The first was Kingsley S. Bingham in 1855, and the most recent is Rick Snyder, who was elected in 2010, and then re-elected in 2014.[ citation needed ]
After President Richard Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal, Vice President Gerald Ford became the 38th President of the United States. Ford grew up in Grand Rapids and served as a U.S. Representative from Michigan from 1949 to 1973.[ citation needed ]
Following the 2016 election and Reince Priebus' selection to be White House Chief of Staff, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel became Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. Then-President-elect Trump recommended McDaniel in December 2016 to replace Priebus. [15] She was officially elected as RNC chair on January 19, 2017, becoming the second woman to hold the post in RNC history, after Mary Louise Smith. [5]
After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election in Michigan and Donald Trump refused to concede, the Michigan Republican Party pushed false claims of fraud and sought to overturn the election results. [11] [12] [13] In January 2021, the Michigan Republican Party sought to replace GOP member Aaron Van Langevelde on the Michigan Board of Canvassers; he had previously voted to certify the Michigan election results in favor of Biden. [16] One of the candidates that the Michigan Republican Party sought to nominate to that position was Linda Lee Tarver, who had been involved in efforts to overturn the election results. [16]
According to the Associated Press, since Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election and Michigan swinging back to the Democrats, the Michigan GOP have taken a hard right-wing turn. The shift has altered the once moderate character of the state GOP and has instead embraced more right-wing elements. [17] In 2021, the executive director of the Michigan GOP resigned after he declined to say that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump; delegates in the Michigan GOP had called for him to be fired for his remarks. [18] Increasing internal divisions within the Michigan Republican Party led to a violent physical brawl at a state committee meeting in 2023, during which one party activist allegedly kicked a committee member in the groin and broke his rib. [19]
Following that and a series of other accusations, including lack of transparency, financial failures, and violating state party bylaws; a group of Michigan Republican Party state committee members voted 40–5 to remove Kristina Karamo, using proxies set by District Chairs without the knowledge of the proxied members to attain quorum. The group of state committee members acknowledges Malinda Pego, who served as co-chair under Karamo, as Acting Chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party until a vote for an official replacement is held. Meanwhile, Kristina Karamo has repeatedly stated that she does not recognize the vote and is therefore still chairwoman, as she claims that the meeting was setup against the bylaws of the Michigan GOP. [20] [21] In addition, her faction claims that Pego's "inappropriate actions" taken to remove Karamo as chair is considered to be her resignation as co-chair. [22] Malinda Pego's faction responded with a 31-paged document arguing how the meeting to oust Karamo followed the state party's bylaws, therefore making the results legitimate and legal. [23]
On January 13, 2024, another group of Michigan Republican Party state committee members voted to reinstate Kristina Karamo as chair, as well as the removal of several nonsupporting party officials—including Malinda Pego—from the state party, [24] despite Karamo previously claiming that Pego had resigned. [22] That same day, 9 of 13 Michigan GOP Congressional district chairs, as well as 3 of 6 Michigan GOP vice chairs, released a statement acknowledging the ousting of Kristina Karamo the week prior. [25] Since this, both state party factions now have functioning websites and have been sending out emails claiming to be the true Michigan Republican Party. [26]
According to Malinda Pego, a state committee meeting to vote for a new chair was held on January 20, 2024. [27] Pete Hoekstra was elected as chairman during the vote. However, Karamo has insisted that she is still the legitimate chairperson. [28] The Karamo faction of the party currently controls the state party's finances and infrastructure including the official MIGOP web site. [29] [30] The Hoekstra faction of the MIGOP set up its own infrastructure and official website. [31]
The Republican National Committee has determined that Karamo was properly removed as MIGOP chair, but had not decided at that time if Hoekstra is the new chair. [32] Both Hoekstra and Karamo were invited to the Republican Party winter meeting in Las Vegas on January 30 but neither were credentialed as party chair. [33] The two rivals received guest credentials but were not given voting rights. [34] Former president Donald Trump is siding with Hoekstra. [35] The RNC on February 14 recognized Hoekstra as the MIGOP chair. [36] Despite that, Karamo insists she will run the Michigan Republican Caucus on March 2 in Detroit. Hoekstra announced that a rival caucus will be held in Grand Rapids at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. [37] [38] [39] A court case being heard in Grand Rapids by Kent County Judge J. Joseph Rossi in late February will determine who controls the state party. Judge Rossi dismissed a lawsuit by Karamo on February 20 to dismiss the case allowing for full hearings on the lawsuit filed by Karamo's critics later in the week regarding whether the RNC recognized chair Hoekstra or Karamo controls the MIGOP. [40] Judge Rossi on February 27 issued a preliminary injunction against Karamo, stating was properly removed as MIGOP chair and barring access by her to MIGOP bank accounts or post office boxes. Karamo declined to say whether she would appeal the ruling and had no comment as to whether the Detroit caucuses will take place. [41] [42] A full trial regarding control of the MIGOP is scheduled to take place on June 10. [43] The Michigan Court of Appeals denied a request on February 29 by Karamo to issue a stay on the court order putting her Detroit caucus in doubt. [44] The chaos affected northern Michigan GOP participants from Michigan's 1st congressional district who had planned to go to Detroit but were barred by missing the deadline to take part in the Grand Rapids caucus. So a third gathering is planned the same day in Houghton Lake. [45] A contingent from Michigan's 4th congressional district was also denied credentials for the Grand Rapids caucuses, so a fourth gathering was announced for the same day in Battle Creek. [46] The Detroit gathering was cancelled. [47] But as of April 3, the officially recognized Michigan Republican Party leadership still does not have access to the MIGOP web site that Karamo still controls. [48]
Both of Michigan's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 2001. Spencer Abraham was the last Republican to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate. First elected in 1994, Abraham lost re-election in 2000 to Democrat Debbie Stabenow who has held the seat since.
Out of the 13 seats Michigan is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 6 are held by Republicans:
District | Member | Photo |
---|---|---|
1st | Jack Bergman | |
2nd | John Moolenaar | |
4th | Bill Huizenga | |
5th | Tim Walberg | |
9th | Lisa McClain | |
10th | John James |
Michigan has not elected any GOP candidates to statewide office since 2014, when Rick Snyder, Brian Calley, Bill Schuette, and Ruth Johnson were re-elected as governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state, respectively. In 2018, term limits prevented all four politicians from seeking third terms. Schuette ran as the Republican nominee in the 2018 gubernatorial election with Lisa Posthumus Lyons as his running mate and was subsequently defeated by Democratic challenger Gretchen Whitmer and running mate Garlin Gilchrist while Tom Leonard and Mary Treder Lang ran as the Republican nominees for Attorney General and Secretary of State and were subsequently defeated by Democratic challengers Dana Nessel and Jocelyn Benson.
The following are in order of presidential succession.
The Michigan Republican State Committee is the state central committee of the Michigan Republican Party. It is composed of seven members from each of Michigan's Congressional district Republican committees, the Chairman, Co-Chairman, the various Vice Chairmen of the Party, and the Secretary, Treasurer and General and Financial Counsels. It selects Michigan's two representatives to the Republican National Committee. Additionally, the Chairperson of each County Republican Party organization is a non-voting ex officio member of the State Committee.
Position | Name |
---|---|
Chair | Pete Hoekstra |
Co-Chair | vacant |
National Committeewoman | Kathy Berden |
National Committeeman | Dr. Rob Steele |
Administrative Vice-Chair | Ali Hossein |
Ethnic Vice-Chair | Bernadette Smith |
Coalitions Vice-Chair | Hassan Nehme |
Grassroots Vice-Chair | Marian Sheridan |
Outreach Vice-Chair | Rola Makki |
Youth Vice Chair | Rylee Linting |
First district | Second district | Third district | Fourth district | Fifth district |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jeff Lamb | Kurt Van Koevering | Kim Yob | Joan Jackson | Lutullus Penton |
Linda Birgel | Jack Holmes | Mandy Bolter | Florence "Bobbie" Connolly | Prudy Adam |
Beverly Bodem | Paul Leidig | Andrew Emmitt | Kim Emmons | Amy Carl |
John Haggard | Janice McCraner | Richard Houskamp | Maxine McClelland | David Krueger |
John Niemela | Juanita Pierman | Eileen McNeil | Steve Rudoni | Jeremy Clontz |
Mary Sears | Joan Runnels | William Womer | Eric St. Onge | Christine Young |
Anthony Stackpoole | Bob Springstead | Sharon Yentsch | Gerald Wall | Allen Pool |
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention. When a Republican is president, the White House controls the committee. According to Boris Heersink, "political scientists have traditionally described the parties' national committees as inconsequential but impartial service providers."
Cornelis Piet "Pete" Hoekstra is a Dutch-American politician who served as the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands from January 10, 2018, to January 17, 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 2nd congressional district from 1993 to 2011.
Ronald N. Weiser is an American businessman and Republican Party donor and financier. Weiser founded a real estate company. He held fundraising roles for the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain. He was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 2009–2011, 2017–2019, and 2021–2023. He was U.S. ambassador to Slovakia during the Bush's first term (2001–2004) and was elected to the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan in 2016.
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Ronna Romney McDaniel is an American political strategist who served as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) from 2017 until her ousting in 2024. A member of the Republican Party and the Romney family, McDaniel was chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 2015 to 2017.
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Matthew Maddock is an American politician in the Republican Party serving as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives. His district, the 51st, represents areas covering part of Oakland County. In his first term, Maddock was appointed to be the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, as well as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. A Republican, Maddock was first elected in 2018. Prior to being elected to the 110-member Michigan House of Representatives, he was a businessman in Oakland County.
The 2024 United States Senate election in Michigan will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect a Class I member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Michigan. It will be held concurrently with the 2024 United States presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate, other elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Primary elections will take place on August 6, 2024.
This is a timeline of major events leading up to, during, and after the 2024 United States presidential election. This will be the first presidential election to be run with population data from the 2020 census. In addition to the dates mandated by the relevant federal laws such as those in the U.S. Constitution and the Electoral Count Act, several milestones have consistently been observed since the adoption of the conclusions of the 1971 McGovern–Fraser Commission.
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Meshawn Maddock is an American politician in the Republican Party who served as co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 2021 to 2023 along with Chair Ronald Weiser. Previously, she was Chair of the 11th Congressional District for the Michigan Republican Party. She is married to Republican Michigan State Representative Matt Maddock. Maddock was charged with fraud in regards to her role as a fake elector for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
The 2022 Michigan Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Attorney General of the state of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel ran for re-election to a second term. She was first elected in 2018 with 49.0% of the vote.
The 2022 Michigan Secretary of State election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Secretary of State of Michigan. Incumbent Democrat Jocelyn Benson decisively won reelection to a second term, defeating far-right Republican Kristina Karamo by a 14 percentage point margin.
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