The chair of the Michigan Republican Party was voted out Saturday by Republicans who accused her of fueling dysfunction within the party—but she claims the vote was “illegitimate” and refuses to acknowledge her ouster.
On the eve of the vote, Kristina Karamo, who gained GOP stardom by denying that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, repeatedly described the push to remove her as an “illegal” plot hatched up by “rogue” members of the state Republican Party.
In a podcast promoted by the party on Friday, she called the announcement of the impending vote a “false narrative to promote illegal actions by some rogue and disgruntled individuals within the party.”
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“They will destroy what they can’t control,” she complained, adding that her foes within the party “don’t have the votes to remove me.”
By Saturday afternoon, however, members of the party claimed they’d had more than enough votes to boot Karamo from the party’s highest position.
“With over 88% of the members that were present and voting, we have taken the first step to engage and protect the various voices and liberties of all Republicans... we have voted to remove Kristina Karamo as the Chair of the Michigan Republican Party,” Bree Moeggenberg, District 2 state committeewoman, announced in a statement on Facebook.
Moeggenberg said General Counsel Dan Hartman’s participation in the meeting guaranteed the vote was legitimate. Karamo, however, shrugged off the whole thing, telling the Detroit News: “It was an illegitimate meeting. Their performance has no legal standing. I am still chair of the Michigan Republican Party.”
The chaos surrounding the vote seems likely to tee up a legal battle over control of the state GOP ahead of Michigan’s presidential primary. As dozens of party members voted to remove her on Saturday, supporters gathered outside and likened the vote to an “insurrection” or “psyop,” according to the Detroit News.
Karamo’s critics, who’ve blamed her for party “chaos” and financial problems, cheered the vote but conceded that it’s probably the start of a larger court showdown. Supporters of Karamo have said an “official” party meeting that is actually “valid” is scheduled for Jan. 13.
