GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Michigan's new Republican Party chairman plans to focus on winning elections, now that there is some clarity over who is the state party chair.
On Tuesday, a Kent County Circuit judge issued a preliminary injunction to prohibit former Michigan GOP Chairwoman Kristina Karamo from conducting party business.
Former West Michigan Congressman Peter Hoekstra - who also once served as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands - was recently declared the new state party chairman by the Republican National Committee. However, Karamo had said that the RNC has no official say on the matter. She maintained that a state party committee vote in January kept her as the party chair. But another state committee group voted for Hoekstra.
Judge Joseph Rossi made his decision at the request of that group. His ruling is retroactive to Jan. 6, when that committee voted to oust Karamo.
Hoekstra talked about it on West Michigan Live with host Justin Barclay.
"The judge ruled very, very clearly (Tuesday) that Kristina was removed properly on January 6th. All actions by Kristina since January 6th are null and void. It means they don't matter; they don't count," Hoekstra said.
The Michigan GOP will hold its statewide nominating convention on March 2 in Grand Rapids to award presidential delegates to the national convention in Milwaukee in July. Karamo's supporters scheduled a convention the same day (March 2) in Detroit. She had been elected a year ago to guide the Michigan GOP until the next president is sworn in in January 2025.
Incidentally, the Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago in August.
On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump won Michigan's GOP primary, collecting about 68 percent of the vote. But only 16 of the state's 55 delegates to the Republican National Convention were awarded as a result of the primary election. The rest will be decided at Saturday's state party convention. The Michigan GOP will hold district caucuses on Saturday. Members will vote for who they want as president and they will vote for the 39 remaining delegates to the national convention. The Michigan Republican National Committee Man and National Committee Woman will be chosen to represent the party at that convention.
Michigan decided to hold both a primary election and district caucuses. Republican National Committee rules prohibit states from holding primaries before March 1st. To get around the problem, the decision was made to hold the caucuses and primary separately.
"Now, we can focus all of our resources on organizing Republicans, working with our allies all across the political spectrum to deliver Michigan for Donald Trump. For our senate candidates, for our House candidates, and to take back the state House," Hoekstra said.
As for statewide issues, the Netherlands native noted that inflation is running rampant.
"As families, we are spending more on groceries as a percentage of our total income than we've ever spent before," Hoekstra said.
Hoekstra said some other key priorities will be to address public safety concerns and the amount of government money that is being invested in electric vehicle battery plants with foreign ties.
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