Ousted Michigan GOP chair Kristina Karamo asks judge to reinstate her

Former Michigan Republican Party Chair Kristina Karamo asked a state appeals court judge to reinstate her as chair, claiming her ouster in January was an injustice that the judge should “rectify with reversal,” the Michigan Advance reported on June 25.

Karamo was removed as head of the Michigan GOP on Jan. 6 after dozens of members of the party’s central governing body voted to oust her, charging that she mismanaged the party’s finances, leaving it deeply in debt ahead of the 2024 elections.

She appealed her removal in February, claiming the vote to oust her did not follow the party’s bylaws and thus should be overturned. However, Michigan 17th Circuit Court Judge J. Joseph Rossi ruled that the vote did adhere to the party’s bylaws, and thus Karamo’s removal was proper. 

Karamo is now arguing that Rossi’s ruling “must be reversed, and the permanent injunction rescinded, and it must happen soon with all the scheduled events on the near calendar,” according to a filing by Karamo’s lawyer Daniel Hartman, the Detroit News reported.

Karamo rose to prominence in the Michigan Republican Party in 2020, when she falsely claimed to have witnessed voter fraud in Detroit during the presidential election. Karamo went on to run for Michigan secretary of state. She won the GOP primary with former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, but lost in a landslide to Democratic incumbent Jocelyn Benson in the general election, which Karamo has still not conceded. 

Karamo was replaced as chair by former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, whom Karamo is attacking as she seeks to get reinstated.

“Pete Hoekstra and his conservative-imposter handlers and operatives spent last year sabotaging the Michigan Republican Party because he and the failed status quo he represents do not want to see progress and growth in the Republican Party,” Karamo told the conservative outlet National Review.

It’s unclear whether the appeals court will hear Karamo’s appeal.

Hoekstra, for his part, called Karamo’s appeal a distraction.

“The Michigan Republican Party is united around one singular mission — electing Republicans up and down the ballot this November,” Hoekstra told National Review. “The grassroots state committee, donors, and elected officials are all supporting this state party and we’re working as a team.”