'Quickly deteriorating': Financially destitute Michigan GOP plans vote to oust chair this week
The Michigan Republican Party has convened a special meeting for this Saturday where the fate of chairwoman Kristina Karamo will be decided.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Republicans in the Mitten State are so determined to remove Karamo that they're also considering a change to their own bylaws that lowers the threshold for removing a chairperson from a 75% vote of the state committee to just a two-thirds vote. Karamo — a former community college professor and 2020 election denier who ran a failed campaign for secretary of state in 2022 — has not yet served even just one year as head of the Michigan GOP.
"You were chosen as chairwoman because the majority of the Republican delegates strongly respected your commitment to a new era of transparency, honesty and meaningful involvement on the part of the State Committee," read letter co-signed by eight of the Michigan GOP's 13 district chairs. "Regrettably, these policies no longer seem to be a priority in your administration and the Party’s financial stability is quickly deteriorating."
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The New York Times reported last week that under Karamo's leadership, the party has been driven into more than $620,000 of debt heading into the 2024 general election in a state whose electoral votes has played a deciding role in the last two consecutive presidential elections. Karamo has been criticized for her "autocratic" leadership style and lack of transparency, and in November, a Comerica Bank attorney sent the state party a default notice for not paying interest on a loan in excess of $500,000.
"The Michigan Republican Party is on the verge of imploding. I have more money in my campaign account than the state party has in its,” State Representative Mark Tisdel said. “Sooner or later, the creditors are going to come calling.”
At the party's 2023 Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference — which has in the past attracted major GOP power players like former Vice President Mike Pence — the main speakers were far more lackluster. Keynote speaker Jim Caviezel — a QAnon conspiracy theorist who played Jesus in Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ — was paid a six-figure sum for a short speech. And aside from entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, none of the current Republican candidates for president attended the conference. British rapper and far-right social media personality Zuby was also a headlining speaker.
Karamo has called the attempt to oust her illegal, telling the Free Press in a statement that the organizers of the Saturday meeting "have zero legal authority to conduct business regarding the Michigan Republican Party or its State Committee." there is not yet any consensus on who would replace Karamo if she is removed from her position.
READ MORE: 'Put an end to the chaos': GOP leaders in swing state say party is 'on the verge of imploding'
