The Michigan Republican Party achieved its goal of selecting candidates for statewide offices, including the Michigan Supreme Court, the State Board of Education and the University Board of Education, at its nominating convention in Flint on Saturday.
The party has fielded state Rep. Andrew Fink (R-Hillsdale) for the state's vacant Supreme Court seat, as well as Circuit Judge Bill O'Grady to fill the remaining four years of the term currently being held by Judge Kira Harris Bolden.
Judge Fink has vowed to remain neutral in his rulings, regardless of his personal beliefs.
“If your preferences and interpretations are always going to be the same, it would be wise to take a step back and rethink your approach to these cases,” he said.
Incumbents Nikki Snyder and Tom McMillan won their elections to run again for the State Board of Education.
Sevag Vartanian and Carl Myers won the nomination for the University of Michigan Board of Trustees over current board member and former party chairman Ron Weiser.
Mike Barrow and Julie Maday defeated incumbent trustee Dan Kelly to win the nomination for the Michigan State University Board of Trustees.
Delegates selected Michael Busuito and Sunny Reddy as candidates to run for the Wayne State University Board of Trustees.
Many of the speeches at Saturday's program at Flint's Dort Financial Center called for unity, expanded the party's influence and attacked Democrats on culture war issues such as the economy and transgender rights.
Party members heard from South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers and others, and once-relative outsiders like Dr. Shelley O'Donnell were regulars on the stage.
Despite the displays of reconciliation, old tensions surfaced at times during the convention.
Shortly after the party's official events began, a group of attendees unsuccessfully filed a motion to replace the Kalamazoo County delegation, led by county party chair Kelly Sackett, with a competing list of attendees led by Republican state committee member Kim Harris.
This comes after the county party was ordered to redo its delegate selection process.
Later that afternoon, former state Republican Party Chairwoman Christina Karamo was escorted from the building.
Flint police grabbed Karamo by the arm and led her to a car as she spoke to reporters accusing current and former party officials of calling on police while she was promoting a state Supreme Court candidate.
“My goal right now is to help our candidates get elected. I'm here today to help Alexandria Taylor and other Republican candidates get elected. My goal is to help the country. But these people want to get us out of the way because they hate not just me, but all of us and what we represent. So, of course, they want us gone,” Karamo told reporters.
Police threatened to arrest Karamo for trespassing, even though he was wearing full-access identification at the time of the encounter.
Certification can be revoked at any time, MIGOP spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita said in a statement to reporters.
“She was presented with a visitor's pass but she refused. She was asked to take a seat but she refused. She was politely asked to leave but she refused. Police were called and they escorted her out of the building which led to chaos,” LaCivita said.
Earlier in the day, skirmishes broke out again between Karamo's allies and supporters of his successor, Speaker Pete Hoekstra.
During their battle for party leadership earlier this year, Karamo's campaign accused Hoekstra of being a conservative insider who had lost touch with the party's grassroots, while her opponents accused her of sowing division within the party and leading it to financial ruin.
Hoekstra, like Karamo's predecessor during the 2022 election cycle, was booed when he took to the stage.
“Obviously some of you don't like me. That's OK. I'm not a candidate. I'm not asking for your vote. I'm looking forward to putting together a team that can win, and we in Michigan are tired of losing,” Hoekstra told the crowd. “Anyone can join that team.”
About 40 minutes away, in Lansing, Michigan, Democrats were holding their state nominating convention and coming together to elect candidates to office.
2024 Michigan Republican Convention Results:
Michigan Supreme Court (four-year terms)
– Patrick O'Grady
Michigan Supreme Court (8 years in office):
– Andrew Fink
State Board of Education:
– Tom McMillin
– Nikki Snyder
Wayne State University Board of Trustees:
– Michael Busuito
– Sunny Reddy
University of Michigan Regents:
– Sevag Vartanian
– Karl Mayers
Michigan State University Board of Regents:
– Mike Barrow
– Julie Madei
