STATE RUCKUS

Michigan GOP Infighting Leaves Two Groups with Different Chairs

The party had ousted its chair Kristina Karamo last week—only for a different group of members to reinstate her on Saturday.

The leadership of the Michigan Republican Party seemed to collapse in on itself on Saturday as dueling factions differed on whether the state party president remained in office just over a month before the state’s Feb. 27 primary.

Forty members of the state party committee voted during a Jan. 6 meeting to remove Kristina Karamo from her post as chair for fueling party dysfunction. Karamo has since disputed the decision, arguing the meeting did not comply with party bylaws and was “illegitimate.” That refusal led to a Saturday meeting of a majority of party members, who voted to keep Karamo in her post, according to the Michigan Advance.

“I look forward to serving you, serving Michigan, and winning in 2024 to save our children’s future,” Karamo said in a video posted on the party’s X account on Saturday.

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However, a cluster of party members who voted Karamo out last week disputed the Saturday meeting results, arguing that Karamo was no longer in charge. Some of the group who voted her out had appointed co-chair Malinda Pego as acting chair, a role it tried to maintain was still in effect in a letter with party letterhead on Saturday.

“We, the undersigned District Chairs and Vice Chairs hereby recognize Co-Chair Malinda Pego as Acting Chair of the. Michigan Republican Party as per the official results of the state committee meeting that occurred on January 6th, 2024,” the party wrote. It noted Pego would remain in the position until a new chair is named, after which she would remain as a co-chair.

But the battle did not end with the letter. Karamo’s commandeering of the party included a provision on Pego—ousting her as vice chair and banning her from any official party affiliations for five years, it announced on X.

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Corbin BoliesMedia Reporter

Tony Ho TranEditor

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