Showdown: Michigan Republican Committee Votes to Remove Party Chair Karamo—She Vows Not to Leave

I would be lying if I said that the end result here hasn't been a long time coming. It's something that many people--including myself-- predicted,

The reason why I say it would be lying to say this has been a long time coming, is because it's only been since March of 2023 that we've had any idea of how Kristina Karamo would act and perform as the newly elected chairperson of the Michigan GOP.

That's not a long time, is it?

Yet, for those who have worked in and out of politics in the state of Michigan, or have ever watched "The West Wing" and "House of Cards," you could kind of see early on that this train wreck was going to happen. Not a lot of people really stood up screamed and yelled about it.

Ah, well.

According to two political reporters in the state, the Republican Party state committee has voted to give the boot to embattled state GOP chair (as they both tweeted about right here).

Vote was 40-5 to remove Karamo and 43-1 to remove Hartman, who apparently left before his own vote https://t.co/7FpYflPuDB
— Jonathan Oosting (@jonathanoosting) January 6, 2024

The Michigan Republicans gathered today have voted to remove Kristina Karamo, according to three sources.
— Craig Mauger (@CraigDMauger) January 6, 2024

No surprise to anyone who has watched how Karamo has operated in the under a year that she has been chair, she made this statement after the vote.

Kristina Karamo after vote to remove her as Michigan GOP Chair: "It was not a State Party meeting. It was an illegitimate meeting, their performance has no legal standing, I am still chair of the Michigan Republican Party."
— Jonathan Oosting (@jonathanoosting) January 6, 2024

In case you can't read the post, it reads:

Kristina Karamo after vote to remove her as Michigan GOP Chair: "It was not a State Party meeting. It was an illegitimate meeting, their performance has no legal standing, I am still chair of the Michigan Republican Party."

Oddly enough, she had the same reaction after she lost by 13 or 14 points--in her Secretary of State race in 2022--to the current holder of that office, Jocelyn Benson. Also in that election, Karamo claimed there was fraud but she could never offer one piece of evidence to back it up in that regard.

This is kind of how she operates.

Now, unlike some of the current GOP insiders--one who's a blowhard who did a 30-tweet regurgitation to try to sound smart on this--I'm going to cut all through the BS to tell you exactly where this is going.

Ready?

This is going to court

The reasons are super-simple to understand, without layering word salad upon word salad (Kamala Harris-style) and trying to confuse people.

Karamo was dutifully elected in February of 2023 at the Michigan Republican Party state convention, which is held every two years to select a new chairperson and other officers. The next meeting to hold an election for those officers is, I believe, scheduled for February of 2025. However, on the current trajectory that Kristina and the rest of her merry band of Democrat-light sycophants have the party on, there won't be a party to hold a convention in February of that year.

If you are wondering how I know that, it is simply because I have written about it right here at RedState.

With the MI-GOP reportedly about to default on loan payments, that $500,000 issue seems like a problem from happier days. TOAST: Michigan GOP Is About to Default on Loan Payments, According to Budget Cmte. Member Who Resigned
From that article:
As predicted, the end is approaching with a budget person jumping off the ship, by giving her resignation letter Thursday (and the story was covered right here).
The Michigan Republican Party is considering how to deal with "imminent default" on its line of credit, according to a resignation letter from a member of the state GOP's budget committee.
The message, obtained Thursday by The Detroit News, reveals the seriousness of the financial problems facing a party in a battleground state a year before the 2024 presidential general election. Kristina Karamo, the Michigan GOP's chairwoman, has struggled to raise money after rising to power in February while railing against the party's "establishment," including past donors.
Jessica Barefield of Livingston County serves on the Michigan Republican Party's state committee, which features about 100 members. She also had been one of 13 Republicans on the influential budget committee, helping to oversee the finances. Barefield said in a resignation letter the budget committee had a Friday "emergency meeting" when the panel "was asked to weigh in on action steps regarding the imminent default on the line of credit," indicating the party is struggling to meet its obligations to pay back its past debts.

Movement Underway to Remove Michigan GOP Chair With Party in Serious Debt

Just Friday, I wrote this right here at RedState about why Karamo lasted about 10 months too long. She has been accused of lying about why she decided to abandon the Michigan GOP building because the rent was $12,000 a month--when it was actually one dollar a year.

Now, I come to find out, in the info my viewer sent me, of a show that covers Michigan much better than I called "Rescue Michigan Coalition," hosted by Adam de Angel (and with guests Matt Wilk and Warren Carpenter). The show went into very specific detail about a response to a Karamo-initiated lawsuit about the GOP HQ that Karamo abandoned, but now says the party owns.
Excuse me?
The party was not renting the building for $12,000 a month but ONE DOLLAR a year. She is claiming that she abandoned a building she was renting but now wants to sell it to get caught up on some debt that the party owes, being she has raised very little money, which I have covered here.

They should have bounced her out for that move of leaving the building, but now the rent was a dollar a year?

Don't let the door hit ya hiney on the way out.

A party needs a place where the leaders can gather, where the county chairs can meet and discuss numerous things, and come up with a coherent strategy for the next election cycle. Karamo abandoned that right off the bat, My Spidey senses went off, and I'm not even a member of the party.

I'm glad the actual members who have the authority to do so started the process of getting rid of somebody who--if she is not actually a Democrat--she's done a favor to the Democrat Party by absolutely destroying its opposition party.

So, let's get the work started to try to rebuild this party before, at least, 2026.