Michigan lawmaker launches 'Grand New Party' PAC, says GOP was 'too passive'

Lansing — A group of Michigan Republicans launched an initiative aimed at electing conservatives and accused party leaders of being "too moderate" and "too passive" during a press conference Monday, six days after the GOP suffered historic losses at the ballot box.

Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, announced a political action committee (PAC) called the "Grand New Party," a play on "Grand Old Party." The PAC will be used to support candidates in races for the state House, county commission seats and school board positions, and the goal will be to "restore the Republican Party to what it’s supposed to be," Carra told reporters.

"The old party is stale, unfortunately," Carra said. "It’s too passive. It’s too timid, especially here in our state.”

An outspoken member of the Legislature, Carra offered colleagues in May food from Chick-fil-A to celebrate a leaked draft opinion showing the U.S. Supreme Court initially voted to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. He was joined at Monday's event by two Republicans who won seats in the state House on Tuesday: Angela Rigas of Alto and Neil Friske of Charlevoix.

Carra argued the GOP had become "milquetoast," and the leaders of the Legislature were "too moderate" in their strategy against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

In Tuesday's election, Whitmer won a second term by more than 10 percentage points over Republican Tudor Dixon of Norton Shores. Meanwhile, Democrats won majorities in both the state House and state Senate for the first time in 40 years.

Michigan Republicans should have acted more like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in standing up for the principles of the party, Carra said. He noted that DeSantis signed a bill that barred teaching on sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade.

"We should be passing those types of bills and make Gov. Whitmer handle it," Carra said.

“We should go the Ron DeSantis route,” Carra added. “And I think we’ll see much greater success.”

DeSantis won another term as Florida governor on Tuesday by beating Democrat Charlie Crist by nearly 20 percentage points.

Carra said if party donors had gotten behind Republican attorney general nominee Matt DePerno and secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo, the GOP would have kept its majority in the state House. Former President Donald Trump had endorsed both DePerno and Karamo.

Donors' reaction to Trump's influence in Michigan was highlighted last week in a memo by Paul Cordes, chief of staff of the state Republican Party.

"In what many of them saw as sending a message to Donald Trump and his supporters, longtime donors to the party remained on the sidelines despite constant warnings of the possibility of the outcome we saw come to fruition on Election Day: A statewide sweep and one-party Democratic rule in Lansing, something that has not been seen in nearly 40 years in Michigan," Cordes wrote in the memo.

In the same memo, Cordes said "middle of the road voters simply didn’t like" Dixon's campaign messages, which he described as "Republican red meat issues."

During Monday's press conference, Shane Trejo, executive director of the Grand New Party, said the organization's core issues will include transparency, energy independence, affirming "election integrity" and ending corporate welfare.

cmauger@detroitnews.com