COSTLY

Michigan GOP Chair Ordered to Pay Legal Fees in Failed Election Case

Kristina Karamo and others are on the hook for more than $58,000.

Michigan Republican Party Chairperson Kristina Karamo and others have been ordered to pay over $58,000 in their failed lawsuit claiming wrongdoing in Detroit’s election. Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny on Monday signed an order compelling Karamo and other plaintiffs to cover the costs incurred by the Detroit clerk’s office in fighting the case. The lawsuit filed in October was “rife with speculation, an absence of facts and a lack of understanding of Michigan election statutes and Detroit absentee ballot procedures,” Kenny wrote. At the time of the original filing, Karamo was the Republican nominee for secretary of state—the top election official in Michigan—but ultimately lost the race to her Democratic rival two weeks later. She was elected the state’s GOP chairperson in February. Her lawsuit had tried to force Detroit residents to either vote in person or go to the city clerk’s office to obtain an absentee ballot. Kenny dismissed the lawsuit on Nov. 7, the day before the election.