Pete Hoekstra: ‘There’s lots of folks investing in the MI GOP’
Michigan Republicans aim to gain the support of UAW members and their votes to help the state GOP win in November.
Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra.
For the past two years, the Michigan Republican Party has been marred by complaints about leadership, disorganization and poor finances.
Earlier this year, the Michigan GOP ousted Kristina Karamo as party chair and voted in former U.S. Congressman Pete Hoekstra to lead the state party. Karamo refused to vacate her position, claiming the vote to remove her was invalid, and the dispute had to be settled in court — though there’s still a faction loyal to Karamo.
A slow start to Michigan GOP’s fundraising doesn’t worry Hoekstra, but he knows there are plenty of mouths to feed this election season.
“You’ve got a presidential race. You’ve got a [U.S.] Senate race, you got at least four competitive House races. You’ve got the State House, you’ve got [the Michigan] Supreme Court,” Hoekstra listed.
Listen: Michigan GOP leader Pete Hoekstra on his party’s efforts to win the November election
He knows the money will trickle in with so much on the line this election.
“There’s lots of folks investing in the MI GOP,” stated Hoekstra. “Others are investing in independent organizations that we’re going to coordinate and work with that we will have a very, very strong effort going into November.”
The former U.S. representative for Michigan’s second congressional district is confident that Donald Trump can win Michigan again as he did in 2016 — the financial priority is on the local races.
“We can take back the State House,” Hoekstra said. “That’s the number one priority that everybody has because that can fundamentally change the politics in the state of Michigan.”
Recent polling suggests President Joe Biden has lost some support among Black voters — and his stance on Israel’s ongoing military operation in Gaza has alienated many Democratic voters, particularly with Arab Americans.
Hoekstra suggests his party is working in Southeast Michigan to rally new members to the state GOP, but also plans to target union members.
“We think that in these communities, we have an opportunity to significantly increase voter turnout for the Republican ticket,” said Hoekstra.
“These are folks who are getting hammered by inflation. These are individuals that are in fear of their jobs, because of this almost religious passion that Joe Biden and Gretchen Whitmer have for electric vehicles,” Hoekstra claimed. “It really threatens the jobs of a lot of automobile industry workers in the state of Michigan.”
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
