RNC meets as Michigan GOP still fights over who’s in charge

A court hearing in Kent County scheduled for Tuesday was delayed as a tussle continues over leadership of the Michigan Republican Party.

The case was filed by a group of Republicans who want a judge to affirm that Kristina Karamo is out as the Michigan GOP chair. That’s after a group of Republican state central committee members voted to remove her. There was also a separate vote by a group of state committee members to name former Congressman Pete Hoekstra as the new party chair.

Karamo insists both those votes violated party rules and she is still the official leader of the Michigan Republican Party. Her tenure has been rocky, including a near-collapse in the party’s fundraising and finances.

All this is taking place as the Republican National Committee meets in Las Vegas this week with no Michigan Republican Party chair in attendance.

The RNC has agreed that Kristina Karamo was properly removed as chair by the vote of the Michigan GOP’s state central committee. It has not formally accepted Hoekstra as the new chair.

Karamo blasted the RNC in an emailed statement, accusing it of “colluding” with “individuals of Michigan’s consultant class.”

“This not only violates the will of the majority of the Michigan Republican Party State Central Committee,” she said, “but undermines the will of Michigan Party precinct delegates who elected me.”

Former President Donald Trump, on track to win the GOP presidential nomination, may have moved the situation closer to a resolution on Friday when he posted his endorsement of Hoekstra on Truth Social, his social media platform.