Kristina Karamo announces run for Michigan GOP chair

The battle to serve as the next leader of the Michigan Republican Party now includes unsuccessful GOP secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo, who announced late Tuesday her bid to become party chair following brutal losses for Republicans in the midterm election.

Her campaign pits her against former GOP attorney general candidate Matt DePerno, another losing candidate backed by former President Donald Trump who rose to national prominence in 2020 for fighting the results of that year's presidential election. At the same time, a former longtime Republican elected official with his own Trump ties is also considering jumping into the race.

Republican delegates in Michigan will decide the new chair of their party at a convention early next year. Michigan GOP Chairman Ron Weiser is not seeking reelection while Michigan GOP Co-chair Meshawn Maddock's future plans remain unclear.

The contest over who will lead the party follows major defeats in Michigan during the most recent midterm: Democratic incumbents handily defeated Republican candidates vying for top statewide offices, and Democrats won control of the state Legislature for the first time since the 1980s.

Longtime observers of GOP politics in the battleground state have said that whomever Michigan Republicans choose to lead their party will indicate whether the party plans to double down on fealty to Trump or embrace a platform that can appeal to independent voters who might help the party win future elections.

Despite their own lackluster fundraising efforts during their own campaigns, DePerno and Karamo have said they can bring in support for the party if elected chair. DePerno wrote in a statement that he will create "a robust fundraising effort to ensure we never again face the lopsided spending that we did this past election." Meanwhile, Karamo promised to "reinvigorate disillusioned activist and donors who have walked away from the party."

DePerno announced his bid for Michigan GOP chair less than a week after he lost his race to Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel by nearly 9 points. He is the subject of an ongoing criminal probe into allegations that he orchestrated an illicit effort to gain unauthorized access to voting machines in the wake of the 2020 election. Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Garrett Soldano has joined DePerno's effort to lead the Michigan Republican Party. In a video posted recently to Twitter, DePerno announced Soldano would serve as his co-chair if he were elected to lead the Michigan Republican Party.

"We need a state party that will fight for the future of Michigan and lay the foundation to make Michigan red again in 2024 - and beyond," DePerno wrote in an email announcing his campaign for chairman of the Michigan GOP. "We must never let Democrats run this state again."

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Pete Hoekstra, former west Michigan Republican congressman and ambassador to the Netherlands under Trump, said Nov. 22 he is weighing a bid to serve as Michigan GOP chair. He said he still needs to have a few conversations with both grassroots leaders and traditional donors, but it's vital for the party to unite and find solutions to the problems he believes Michiganders care about.

"We need to rethink the issues that we talk about and we need to rethink about how we need to rework about how we talk about these issues," Hoekstra said during a recent episode of Off The Record on WKAR.

Karamo announced on Twitter Tuesday that she will run to serve as Michigan GOP chair with Malinda Pego as co-chair. Pego serves as vice chair of the Muskegon County Republican Party, according to a website for her campaign with Karamo.

Karamo lost her secretary of state race to incumbent Democrat Jocelyn Benson by nearly 14 points. She has leveled unsupported allegations of election lawlessness in the recent midterm and urged the state's elections panel not to certify its results, which were approved unanimously. In a statement, Karamo vowed to "make the Republican Party a powerful force for freedom."

"As I have campaigned around the state, I have seen massive deficiencies in the way we as a party conduct ourselves. Often operating as mini gangs, instead of soldiers fighting for freedom," she wrote. "Unfortunately, this has placed us on the precipice of tyranny, which voting alone will not be able to overcome."

Tuscola County Republican Party Chairman Billy Putman has also announced he is running for chair of the Michigan GOP.

In a letter outlining his vision for the party, Putnam blasted the current leaders of the Michigan GOP and that under his leadership Republicans "will see growth."

"For the next year we'll purge the RHINOS (sic) from among us and vet and seek out God fearing men and women to retake the high ground," he wrote, referring to the conservative parlance for Republicans in name only. He told the Free Press that he plans to announce next week who will run to serve as his co-chair.

An election post-mortem memo from the Michigan GOP blamed GOP midterm losses, in part, on donors who withheld support from the party because of candidates' ties to Trump.

"As a Party, we found ourselves consistently navigating the power struggle between Trump and anti-Trump factions of the Party, mostly within the donor class," Michigan GOP chief of staff Paul Cordes wrote.

"That power struggle ended with too many people on the sidelines and hurt Republicans in key races. At the end of the day, high quality, substantive candidates and well-funded campaigns are still critical to winning elections."

Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kristina Karamo announces run for Michigan GOP chair