Republican Party leaders in key Michigan counties call for Kristina Karamo's removal

Lansing — The leaders of the local Republican parties in two of Michigan's largest counties are calling for Kristina Karamo, the chairwoman of the state's GOP, to be removed from her position, less than 11 months before the 2024 presidential election.

In a letter released Monday morning, Vance Patrick, chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party, urged the GOP state committee to vote to oust Karamo. Patrick said the state party "has been left in shambles with regard to fundraising and effective staff work."

Karamo, whom delegates elected chairwoman in February, resides in Oakland County.

Patrick's statement came as opponents of the chairwoman push for a special meeting of the state committee to consider Karamo's removal. Karamo's nine months as chairwoman has been defined by internal divisions and significant fundraising struggles.

On Friday, as first reported by The Detroit News, the state party sued a trust led by past party leaders to try take over the former party headquarters building in an attempt to sell the property, which the state party doesn't own.

"This call for a vote to remove our current chair is not made lightly," Patrick said Monday. "It is a step towards ensuring that our party can continue to grow, unite and effectively champion the ideals that we hold dear.

"A change in leadership is necessary to reinvigorate our party, to build stronger coalitions and to prepare us for success in 2024 and beyond," Patrick added.

Oakland County is Michigan's second largest county, and Patrick is considering running for the chair position if Karamo is eventually removed.

In a separate interview Monday, Mark Forton, chairman of the Macomb County Republican Party, said he continues to support unseating Karamo.

Macomb County is Michigan's third largest county. Forton said he believes Karamo and her leadership team are "out to destroy the party.”

"This cannot be ignorance," Forton said. "It cannot be lack of experience.”

Karamo is a former educator from Oak Park who rose to political prominence by spreading unproven claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. She was the Republican Party's nominee for secretary of state in 2022. She lost to Democrat Jocelyn Benson by 14 percentage points.

In an email to Republicans last week, Karamo said her administration was facing a "barrage of attacks" that would be expected "from a deep-state-like operation wanting their unchecked power back."

"The manipulation scheme targets the recruitment of conservatives into manufactured 'patriot led groups' which have ambitions stemming from their infatuation with power and money," Karamo said.

A report released over the weekend accused Karamo of bringing the Michigan Republican Party to the "brink of bankruptcy" because of problems with fundraising under Karamo and about $600,000 in outstanding debts. Republican businessman Warren Carpenter of Oakland County sponsored the research behind the report.

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A group of Michigan Republicans submitted a request earlier this month calling for a special meeting of the GOP's state committee on Dec. 27 to consider Karamo's removal.

Karamo has said she is planning to call for a special meeting in early January.

Karamo's opponents would need 75% of the state committee, which has about 100 members, to agree with their effort to unseat Karamo or would need two-thirds of the committee to vote to change the bylaws to lower the lofty threshold.

cmauger@detroitnews.com