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lansing — The Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday declined to intervene in the state’s Republican Party leadership race, likely rendering the Republican convention that Christina Karamo had planned for Detroit irrelevant.
Karamo had asked the appeals court to immediately halt the Kent County Circuit Court’s decision that he is no longer the Michigan Republican Party chairman so that he can move forward with plans for a Saturday convention. But Court of Appeals Judge Brock Swartzle quickly denied the motion for a three-sentence injunction Thursday afternoon.
Mr. Karamo’s attorney, Donald Campbell, argued that Kent County Judge J. Joseph Rossi’s ruling “further disrupts the political process.”
The appellate court’s order is the latest fallout from an ongoing battle that continues to consume the Michigan Republican Party, this time potentially including a new petition drive to oust another party chairman.
Before Mr. Rossi issued his ruling against Mr. Karamo on Tuesday, both Mr. Karamo, the former Michigan Republican Party chairman, and current chairman Pete Hoekstra claimed they were leaders of the party. And the two men were planning competing presidential caucuses on Saturday to decide the distribution of 39 of the 55 delegates to the Republican National Convention.
Hoekstra’s event is scheduled to be held in Grand Rapids. Karamo’s will be held in Detroit.
“…this order, as it stands, nullifies the previously announced MIGOP delegate convention scheduled for March 2, 2024 in Detroit,” Campbell wrote in a Wednesday appeals court filing. I wrote one of them. “Accordingly, defendant-appellant Christina Karamo requests this court to enter a stay of proceedings in the lower court pending the conclusion of this appeal.”
An appeals court judge subsequently refused to grant Karamo’s request.
Mr. Rossi ruled Tuesday that Mr. Karamo was removed as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party during a contentious meeting of the Republican State Committee on Jan. 6, arguing that Mr. Karamo remained in the position. Forbidden to continue.
Mr. Rossi also prohibited Mr. Karamo from doing business in the name of the state Republican Party or accessing the party’s bank accounts. Karamo, who was in court for Tuesday’s sentencing, told reporters the sentence was “grossly unfair.” But he declined to say whether a caucus in Detroit would be held.
John Lauderback, a partner and attorney at Warner Norcross & Judd who is representing a group of Hoekstra supporters in the ongoing court case, said the Republican National Committee’s already legal convention is the Grand Rapids convention. He said he was making a ruling.
“Now that Mr. Karamo has lost again, he claims he will be harmed by the delay and needs the Court of Appeals to intervene and grant an alternative tournament,” Lauderbach said. “We want to encourage her to listen to the wishes of the party, stop this further travesty and do the right thing so that the Michigan Republican Party can put its best foot forward in November.”
The Michigan Republican Party selected Karamo, a political outsider from Oak Park who ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2022, to serve as party chairman in February 2023. But while she held the position, she was plagued by fundraising struggles. Her party had about $35,000 in its bank account. Internal divisions between August and herself intensified, spurring a petition to have her removed from office.
Both the Republican National Committee and the likely Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, have recognized Hoekstra as the current chairman of the Michigan Republican Party.
Hoekstra, a former congressman, said Tuesday night that under his leadership, the Michigan Republican Party will not incur any costs to support Karamo’s convention in Detroit.
But on Wednesday, the day after the Rossi ruling, a new petition surfaced among Michigan Republican lawmakers asking for a vote on firing Hoekstra and co-chairman Malinda Pego.
“By filling out and signing this petition, you are requesting a vote to remove Pete Hoekstra and Malinda Pego,” the petition reads.
Half of the party’s state committee, which has about 107 members, would need to sign the petition to force a vote to expel Hoekstra.
“I am 100% focused on preparing the state party to win in November,” Hoekstra said Thursday in response to the petition.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
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