LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Republican Party is facing $460,000 in debt and is in a "pickle" about the looming presidential primary race, according to comments recently made by new state GOP Chairwoman Kristina Karamo.
Karamo, who won the top position in the Michigan GOP last month, told Republicans in Muskegon County on March 11 about the debt and said it is possible the party could overhaul the process it's previously used for deciding which presidential contender gets the state's delegates.
The acknowledgments, which were included in a video posted on social media, revealed some of the significant struggles ahead for the Michigan Republican Party as it finds itself out of the governor's office and in minorities in the state House and Senate for the first time in almost 40 years.
"The party is in debt. $460,000," Karamo said during the Muskegon County event.
"So that is something we're working through," she added. "But we do have funding to get started and get our initial operations going. Hopefully, the former chair will be gracious enough to pay that off."
The former chairman, Ron Weiser, a wealthy real estate businessman from Ann Arbor, decided not to seek another term this year.
The party's overall debt can be hard to nail down because it has multiple accounts, some that have to be reported publicly and others that don't.
Asked about the $460,000 in alleged debt, Weiser didn't refute the number in a Friday statement. But he also gave no indication he would step in to resolve it.
Weiser said he had given more than $5 million to help Republicans win elections for the 2022 cycle. Like other party organizations, there was "a relatively small amount of debt left over that represents less than 4% of total revenues," Weiser said.
"Given the small percentage involved, I am confident the new administration will be able to utilize the fundraising plan she campaigned on to raise the funds to pay down the line of credit and make Michigan Republicans competitive in 2024," he added.
Karamo has been critical of so-called "establishment" forces in the Michigan GOP and said the party's past leadership operated like a "political mafia." She didn't respond to a request for comment.
On Monday, Karamo revealed in an email to Michigan Republicans she wouldn't use the party's longtime headquarters in Lansing, which is owned by a trust, because she believed the money could be better spent on other priorities.
A presidential caucus?
Karamo's Michigan Republican Party will also have to determine in the coming months how it will decide which GOP presidential hopeful wins its delegates in the 2024 race.
For decades, Michigan has held primary elections, where registered voters can cast ballots. But on March 11, Karamo told the Muskegon County Republicans a changing state law on the presidential primary date could mean the party overhauls the process.
“One solution is to have a caucus, where it will be delegates voting on who the Republican nominee for president is in our state," Karamo said. "So that’s some conversation that’s being had.”
Karamo said the ultimate decision would be up to the Michigan Republican Party's state committee. Under national GOP rules, the committee has to put rules in place by Oct. 1 for how national convention delegates will be allocated.
Under a caucus setup, the Michigan GOP could put limitations on who participates. The party could also choose to hold a convention where a group of about 2,000 delegates gets to vote on the presidential contest.
The last Michigan GOP caucuses or convention for a presidential race took place 35 years ago in 1988, when the Rev. Pat Robertson challenged then-Vice President George Bush and then-U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp of New York. The New York Times reported that delegates walked out of at least 26 of Michigan's 124 county conventions, prompting the Bush campaign to accuse Robertson's campaign of attempting to sow confusion and deny the vice president a victory.
The GOP presidential nomination for 2024 is expected to be heavily contested with former President Donald Trump and a group of challengers already in the race, including former United National ambassador Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence could also join the fray.
The Democrat-controlled Michigan Legislature voted in January to move the state's 2024 presidential primary from mid-March to Feb. 27 to comply with a new schedule put forward by the Democratic National Committee. But the Republican National Committee's rules would penalize Michigan for scheduling its primary that early by decreasing its number of delegates at the GOP national convention.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressed optimism this week that Republicans would want to join Democrats in holding a presidential primary next year on the last Tuesday in February.
“Their chair is from Michigan and hopefully sees the wisdom in giving Michiganders an elevated voice in the selection of our presidential candidates,” Whitmer said Tuesday, referencing RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel of Northville.
The choices ahead
Karamo described the situation as a "pickle" in her comments in Muskegon County on March 11.
In addition to the potential delegate penalty, Karamo said a primary could allow Democrats to cross over and vote in the GOP contest if incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden doesn't face a significant challenge.
“I think there is a lot of conversation that we need to have about what we are going to do," Karamo said.
Michigan Republicans have held presidential primary elections from 1992 onward, said Dennis Lennox, a political strategist who has worked on multiple presidential campaigns. While a primary election would be funded by the government, the cash-strapped state GOP would likely have to finance a caucus or convention itself.
"That's a lot of logistics for a party with no money," Lennox said. "Moreover, we don't have any real prior experience or practice doing caucuses on the Republican side, unlike Michigan Democrats or the state GOPs of other states."
Karamo said it's possible the Republican National Committee would allow the state to hold its primary early without a delegate penalty.
“I can’t imagine the RNC penalizing us for something that we will have no control over,” the party chair said at the March 11 event.
Helping Trump?
Jason Roe, former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, said a caucus or convention, with a small group of participants, would likely mean handing the state's delegates to Trump, who appears to be heavily favored by the party's most vocal factions.
In Michigan, unlike some other states, voters don't have to declare a party affiliation as part of their voter registration, so it is unclear how Republicans would decipher who's eligible to participate in a caucus. But it would likely mean many fewer people get votes.
"Being on the primary ballot would really be more of a test of where Republican voters are as opposed to where Republican activists are," Roe said.
Trump endorsed Karamo when she unsuccessfully ran for secretary of state in 2022. But he endorsed Matt DePerno, a lawyer from Kalamazoo, in the state party chair race in February. Karamo told Muskegon County Republicans she wasn't taking a formal position on the primary or caucus decision.
Norm Shinkle, a member of the Michigan GOP's state committee, said there hadn't been formal discussions yet about the presidential nomination process.
Conventions and caucuses are expensive, Shinkle said. If Democrats hold a primary and Republicans hold a convention later, Republicans could interfere in the Democratic primary, he said. The best thing is for both sides to agree to hold a primary in early March, he argued.
“I think the Democrats will see the light come through, and we’ll have a March primary,” Shinkle said.
As things stand, Michigan's presidential primary is scheduled for Feb. 27. But the Michigan Legislature would have to adjourn its session early for it to happen because the law that moved the date didn't get enough support to take effect immediately and won't take effect until 90 days after the year's session concludes.
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