Appeals Court denies Karamo request to suspend order removing her as Michigan GOP chair
LANSING — The Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday quickly denied Kristina Karamo's emergency request to put on hold a judge's order that bars her from identifying herself as chair of the Michigan Republican Party.
Karamo's court action added another layer of confusion to Michigan GOP affairs as delegates prepare to meet Saturday to select most of the party's delegates to the Republican National Convention in July. Karamo has called a Saturday convention in Detroit. Former congressman and ambassador Pete Hoekstra, who was recognized Tuesday as the lawful chair by a Kent County judge, and earlier was endorsed by the Republican National Committee, has called a convention for the same day, but in Grand Rapids.
But within an hour of attorneys filing a response to Karamo's Wednesday night filing, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals denied Karamo's request to suspend Tuesday's ruling by Kent County Circuit Judge Joseph Rossi, while the panel considers her appeal, which continues.
"The motion for stay pending resolution of the application for leave to appeal is denied," said Judges Brock Swartzle, Michael Gadola and Jane Markey in a Thursday order.
The appeal request cited Karamo's planned Saturday convention at Huntington Place in Detroit as among the pressing issues and sought a ruling by Friday.
Hoekstra said Tuesday that Rossi's ruling makes clear that only his Saturday convention in Grand Rapids will be valid. Both Karamo and Hoekstra are Trump supporters.
By granting a preliminary injunction against her ahead of a trial scheduled for June, Rossi makes Karamo's position "untenable," even if she ultimately prevails in the trial, Karamo attorneys argue in appeal documents.
Karamo attorney Donald Campbell said in the court filings that Rossi went beyond what he had the power to do in granting a preliminary injunction, by granting the anti-Karamo faction the full relief they were requesting, and by making the order retroactive to Jan. 6.
In a Thursday response to the appeal request, attorneys for the anti-Karamo Republicans noted that during the hearing on the preliminary injunction, Karamo's attorneys argued there was no urgency to resolve the dispute ahead of Saturday, and Republican delegates could simply attend the convention of their choosing.
"Now that she has lost again, Ms. Karamo claims she will be harmed by the delay and needs an appellate court to intervene and allow her alternate convention," Jonathan Lauderbach, who represents party co-chair Malinda Pego and others backing the ouster of Karamo, said in an email to the Free Press.
"We would encourage her to do the right thing by listening to the will of the party and stopping any further charades so the Michigan Republican Party can focus its efforts on November."
Members of the Michigan Republican State Committee voted to remove Karamo at a meeting Jan. 6 and voted to replace her with Hoekstra at a meeting Jan. 20. Karamo argues both meetings were held in violation of state party bylaws and most of the 107-member state committee still supports her.
Karamo, the first Black person to chair the Michigan Republican Party, was elected at a state convention a little over a year ago. She's faced opposition over lackluster fundraising amid allegations of autocratic rule, a lack of transparency, and interference with county party business.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, @paulegan4.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Court denies Karamo request to halt order removing her as MIGOP chair
