Saginaw GOP sues former leaders in latest round of intraparty court battles

LANSING — In the latest in a series of internal GOP power struggles in Michigan, the Saginaw County Republican Party is suing former party leaders in federal court, saying they have refused to surrender control of the county party's Facebook pages.

The lawsuit filed Dec. 18 by the Saginaw County Republican Committee comes after two people claimed to be county chair in Macomb in 2022 and as dissident members of the state committee attempt to oust Michigan Republican Party Chair Kristina Karamo at a meeting this Saturday. And it comes as Karamo is in court battling former state party chairs over control of the state party headquarters and as Karamo was fined $500, plus legal fees, last week, in another court fight, involving the Hillsdale County GOP. That legal dispute also involves control of a county party Facebook page, among other issues.

Dennis Lennox, a Republican political consultant and political commentator, said the slew of disputes and court battles is symptomatic of a lack of respected and experienced leadership in the state party after its political fortunes collapsed in recent years.

"You don't have an adult in the room who can say, 'OK, everybody, stop fighting,' " Lennox said. "You don't have a functioning state party who can resolve county party disputes."

The latest suit alleges the taking of county property, trademark infringement, unfair competition, and breach of fiduciary duty against former Saginaw County party officials Thomas Roy, who is the former vice-chair; Janet Stoney, who is the former treasurer, and R. Scott Gilmore, a former member of the executive committee.

The committee has operated a Facebook group page titled, "The Saginaw County Republican Party," since about 2009, according to the suit. The group has about 2,300 members. The committee has operated a second Facebook page, titled "Saginaw County Republican Headquarters," since about 2012, with fewer than 500 members.

While they held party office, Roy, Stoney and Gilmore were all designated administrators of the two Facebook pages, the suit alleges.

But since new party officers were selected, they have all refused to provide access, passwords, or administrative rights to the pages, according to the lawsuit. And those now running the pages have blocked the new county party chair, Curt Tucker, and other new officers from gaining access.

"Defendants continue to control the ... pages without authorization." They "misappropriated physical, commercial, and intellectual property, including trademarks and names," the suit alleges.

The physical address and email address now listed on the pages is connected to defendants, and although it solicits donations to the county party, the page requests that those donations be sent to an address connected to the defendants, the suit alleges.

None of the defendants has yet filed an answer to the lawsuit or had an attorney make an appearance in the case. They did not respond to requests for comment sent through Facebook on Thursday.

As of Thursday, the last post made on the county Facebook page was Dec. 28, by Stoney.

The suit alleges the Saginaw County Republican Committee is commonly known as the Saginaw County Republican Party, just as the Michigan Republican State Committee is commonly known as the Michigan Republican Party. It says both names for the county party are spelled out in the committee's bylaws.

In Macomb County, the state party ultimately ruled in favor of Mark Forton in 2022 after both he and Eric Castiglia claimed to be the rightful chair of the county party.

In the Hillsdale County case, Circuit Judge Michael Olsaver on Dec. 28 sanctioned Karamo, the Michigan Republican State Committee and three other defendants for contempt for violating an earlier order he issued about misrepresenting who the GOP leaders in Hillsdale County are. Each was fined $500, plus they were collectively ordered to pay unspecified legal bills rung up by the opposing parties in the case. According to the order, the Michigan Republican Party has continued to post information on its website that misidentifies county party leaders. Another defendant, not Karamo, "violated the court's order by continuing to operate a Facebook page in the name of the Hillsdale County Republican Party," the judge said in his order.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Saginaw GOP goes to court in latest round of intraparty court battles