Michigan Republican Party

The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, 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. McDaniel is now the Republican National Committee Chairwoman. 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.

Whereas the Michigan Republican Party has historically been characterized by moderate conservatism, the party took a hard-right turn after Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. After the 2020 United States elections, the Michigan Republican Party pushed false claims of fraud and sought to overturn the election results. 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.

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.

History

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.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

Divided Leadership

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. 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. Malinda Pego's faction responded with a thirty-one paged document arguing how the meeting to oust Karamo followed the state party's bylaws, therefore making the results legitimate and legal.

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, despite Karamo previously claiming that Pego had resigned. 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. Since this, both state party factions now have functioning websites and have been sending out emails claiming to be the true Michigan Republican Party.

According to Malinda Pego, a state committee meeting to vote for a new chair was held on January 20, 2024. Pete Hoekstra was elected as chairman during the vote. However, Karamo has insisted that she’s still the legitimate chairperson. The Karamo faction of the party currently controls the state party's finances and infrastructure including the official MIGOP web site.

The Republican National Committee has determined that Karamo was properly removed as MIGOP chair, but has not decided yet if Hoekstra is the new chair. Both Hoekstra and Karamo were invited to the Republican Party winter meeting in Las Vegas on January 30 but neither will be credentialed as party chair. Former president Donald Trump is siding with Hoekstra. The RNC considers the position of MIGOP chair to be vacant.https://gop.com/about-our-party/rnc-members/

Current elected Republicans in Michigan

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

* None

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.

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 13 seats Michigan is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 6 are held by Republicans:

Statewide

* None

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.

Michigan Legislature

* Senate Minority Leader: Aric Nesbitt

*House Minority Floor Leader: Bryan Posthumus

* House Minority Leader: Matt Hall

United States cabinet members from Michigan who served under a Republican president

The following are in order of presidential succession.

Michigan Republican State Committee

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.

Current leadership

2021 District Chairs list

Chairmen of the Michigan Republican State Committee

References

External links

Michigan Republican PartyMichigan Young RepublicansMackinac Republican Leadership ConferenceMichigan Republican Party District Chairs 2021 listMichigan Republican Wayne County organizations

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Republican Party
Republican Party (United States) by state
Political parties established in 1854
1854 establishments in Michigan