Republicans vote to oust Karamo as state party chair; she does not recognize their authority

Commerce Township — A group of Michigan Republicans voted Saturday afternoon to remove Kristina Karamo as chairwoman of the party, but Karamo vowed to disregard the meeting in Oakland County as illegitimate. 

A video from inside the gathering, which wasn't open to the media, showed Republicans cheering once it was announced that Karamo had been ousted. About 88% of the 45 individuals participating in the vote supported unseating Karamo, who became the party's chairwoman in February, according to the announcement in the video.

Bree Moeggenberg, a member of the Michigan Republican Party's state committee, circulated petitions to call for Saturday's special meeting. 

"We have made history today," she wrote in a statement. "With over 88% of the members that were present and voting, we have taken the first step to engage and protect the various voices and liberties of all Republicans."

But a statement from Karamo's team Saturday night said she would take "swift and decisive action" to hold all participants in the "attempted coup accountable to the fullest extent allowed under the rules of the Michigan Republican Party bylaws."

In a text message Saturday afternoon, Karamo said the meeting was "illegitimate."

"Their performance has no legal standing," Karamo said. "I am still chair of the Michigan Republican Party." 

Saturday's vote came 52 days before Michigan's presidential primary election, which could shine a national spotlight on the feud engulfing the state's Republican Party. 

Dennis Lennox, a Michigan-based political consultant, said all eyes were now on Ronna McDaniel, a Michigan resident and the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. The RNC could intervene to decide which faction of the Michigan GOP controls the organization, Lennox noted. 

"If the RNC under Michigan's own Ronna McDaniel wants to act, they will," Lennox posted on social media. "It's that simple. RNC can do whatever it wants. At the end of the day, it's a private club."

More:Michigan Republicans to weigh using caucuses instead of primary elections

At least 45 Republican members of the state committee participated in Saturday's vote, according to attendees. Regardless of whether their decision to remove Karamo is upheld by the Republican National Committee or a court, their action represented the clearest sign yet of the deep division within the Michigan Republican Party, which comes ahead of a pivotal presidential election in November.

Overall, there are about 100 members of the state committee, which manages the party and has the power to unseat officers, like Karamo.

Attendees said there were enough proxies, representing state committee members, in attendance to establish a quorum. And the removal vote is based on the number of state committee members present and voting under the bylaws.

The threshold to remove a chair is normally 75%. But those in attendance Saturday voted to change it to 60%.

The resulting vote to oust Karamo, which was cast with secret ballots, tallied at 40-5, said Bethany Wheeler, a GOP meeting attendee.

Members of the party's state committee gathered inside a Commerce Township shooting range club at 1 p.m. to hold the vote.

Site security guards kept watch over GOP members outdoors protesting the meeting and vote amid loud blasts from the range while other members indoors began formal proceedings.

"This is an illegitimate meeting," said Dan Browe, 75, a Republican who was protesting outside the meeting. "You and I can stand here and say, 'OK, we're going to vote Joe Biden out of office.' We don't have any authorization. We can gather, we can talk about it, but we don't have standing."

Browe, alongside a small crowd of other Republican protestors, carried a sign that read "CHAOS: ANOTHER J6 PSYOP" as he stood outside.

"THE INSURRECTION OF THE MICHIGAN REPUBLICAN PARTY," Browe's sign read. "THIS IS ONE ELECTION YOU'RE NOT TAKING FROM US."

Other protesters also drew comparisons between Saturday's meeting and the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol three years ago, citing inner turmoil in the Michigan GOP base that they said was resurfacing in the wake of another presidential election.

"You go off and find a politically charged environment where people are frustrated with what's going on," said former state Sen. Patrick Colbeck, a Canton Township Republican who also was protesting. "They find out what their passion button is and they tweak them and tell them 'Here, I'm your savior. I'm going to go off and fix this for you.'"

The effort to remove Karamo reflected a lack of unity among Michigan Republicans, some of whom had never supported her from the start of her tenure, Colbeck said.

"Maybe they know something about her not being able to raise money because they had something to do with that," he said.

Financial struggles and internal divisions have rocked Karamo's tenure as chairwoman of the party.

More:Draft report claims Michigan GOP is on 'brink of bankruptcy'

The culmination of those financial troubles appeared to some party members most visibly at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in late December, said Vance Patrick, Oakland County's GOP chair who attended Saturday's meeting.

The next person in Karamo's role will have to catch up on two years' worth of work, he said. Saturday's meeting, regardless, remained a fair opportunity to begin that work as a party, he said.

"This is a legitimate meeting," Patrick said. "Whether Kristina decides to show up or no, it doesn't matter."

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

'I am now the acting chair'

The former educator from Oak Park has said the special meeting Saturday to consider her removal didn't comply with party bylaws.

"The Michigan Republican Party has declared tomorrow’s Jan. 6 gathering, organized by a faction of the state committee, to be unauthorized and out of compliance with the party’s bylaws," the Michigan Republican Party said in a statement issued Friday. 

After the vote on Saturday, according to a video reviewed by The Detroit News, Malinda Pego, who had been Karamo's co-chairwoman, told the crowd, "I am now the acting chair." 

In a statement Saturday, Pego said the state GOP's " bylaws process and rules were followed" in voting to oust her one-time ally.

"For me, this is not a happy day," Pego said. "It’s a somber day."

Republicans on both sides of the disagreement have said the differing interpretations of the party's bylaws could end up in court. 

"I think this is just the beginning," said Brian Szmytke, a staffer with Patrick who attended the meeting. "Courts are closed on Saturday, so we'll see the flurry of filings on Monday, I'm sure."

Karamo has already scheduled her own special meeting of the party's state committee for 9 a.m. Jan. 13 in Houghton Lake.

Her leadership team has argued that her gathering is the true special meeting, not the one that occurred Saturday. 

"These individuals have not followed the MIGOP bylaws to call a meeting, change bylaws or remove any member," Karamo told The Detroit News earlier in the week. "They have zero legal authority to conduct business regarding the Michigan Republican Party or its state committee."

Karamo, who ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2022, has struggled to gather support from the donors who have traditionally funded the Michigan GOP.

The party had about $35,000 in its accounts in August, millions of dollars less than it normally would have had at that point in presidential election cycle. The party also has about about $600,000 in outstanding debts, most of it leftover from the prior administration. 

In December, the party, under Karamo's guidance, launched a controversial lawsuit to try to take control of its former headquarters building. However, the property is owned by a company controlled by a trust of former party chairs. 

cmauger@detroitnews.com

amunozcampos@detroitnews.com