LANSING, Mich. — On Saturday, the Michigan Republican Party voted to remove Chairperson Kristina Karamo during a special meeting. An interim leader, Malinda Pego from Muskegon County, was picked to take her place.
You wouldn't guess it, though, based on the conflicting information sent out by different members of the party since that vote took place.
For example, Karamo and her supporters released their own report about the meeting on Tuesday, claiming the party's bylaws were violated and any decision made on Jan. 6 is null and void.
MIGOP Report on J6 Meeting by WXMI on Scribd
On the other hand, a separate release, with the same MI GOP letterhead, said "claims from former Michigan Republican Party administration regarding Malinda Pego resigning are completely false."
Jan 8 PR Final by WXMI on Scribd
In addition, both were sent from nearly identical emails with only one minor difference: the email supporting Karamo's side is from communication@migop.org, while the other supporting Pego was sent from communication@mi-gop.org.
Just the addition of a hyphen, nothing else.
The same goes for the websites. One is migop.org. The other is mi-gop.org.
So which one should constituents trust right now? Well, that's hard to answer, considering the Republican National Committee first needs to review the information and then come back with a decision regarding any possible infractions.
In the meantime, Brian Szmytke, a Republican strategist for 15+ years, said this just highlights another example of disconnect within the party.
"We have a habit, as Republicans, over the past few years, of refusing to accept results of elections," he said.
As Szmytke reminded us, Karamo is no stranger to this trend.
"Karamo never conceded her 2022 loss of Secretary of State when it was a clear defeat by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson," he said. "So this is par for the course with Kristina that she doesn't want to accept reality.”
Szmytke, who worked for the Michigan Republican Party from 2010–2015, advising on bylaws and parliamentary procedures, was in the chambers during Saturday's meeting when state GOP members had an overwhelming 40-5 vote to oust Karamo from her position as mounting debt and infighting continue to plague the party.
“I'm a fiscal conservative. I try and take home as much money as I ca, and I try to spend it as wisely as I can and I want lower taxes. I think a lot of Republican voters and moderates feel the same," Szmytke said. "It's hard to make the case effectively that, you know, we are practicing what we preach as a party.”
Karamo and her supporters claim the the party's bylaws were violated, making the vote to remove her "null and void."
Szmytke doesn't see it that way, and blames Karamo for the lopsided vote.
"I think it's unfortunate that Karamo encouraged her supporters to stay at home because, you know, you've now got the result that you do," he said. "You want to go and complain about the result when you were the one that said, 'Hey, supporters, don't show up.'? You get what you asked for.”
In fact, Szmytke said some within the party have faced backlash for supporting a change in power.
"One of the state committee members — I won't name her, but, you know — she actually had to walk away in tears because of the bullying text messages and bullying phone calls she was receiving from those that were still supporting Chairwoman Karamo," Szmytke said.
Now, the situation has the attention of the Republican National Committee. Szmytke said the RNC will effectively decide if the vote was compliant with the bylaws after all. He believe that will happen sometime this week.
Even after that decision is made public, he said the dispute is far from over.
Szmytke said he'd be surprised if there weren't several lawsuits filed by Friday for both parties.
Moreover, if the RNC supports Karamo's removal, there will be an official vote to have someone fill her position since Pego is only the interim leader. Szmytke expects that race to divide the party even more.
In the meantime, FOX 17 has contacted both Karamo's and Pego's offices for comment but has yet to hear back.
