Populist Trump loyalists have taken leading roles, clashing with chamber-of-commerce types who used to run state Republican parties
LANSING, Mich.— When a fight broke out at a closed-door meeting of the Michigan GOP state committee, a kick to the groin and broken dentures interrupted discussion of the dismal finances of the state Republicans’ party.
The altercation last month at the Doherty Hotel in Clare, Mich., made clear that the Michigan Republican Party—now dominated by its right flank staunchly aligned with former President Donald Trump—has descended into chaos. It can barely fundraise and has all but gone broke.
State lawmakers have taken to raising money on their own, unable to rely on the party at a time when Republicans are seeking to reclaim a majority in the state legislature and prepare for the 2024 election in Michigan, a crucial presidential swing state.
Michigan’s GOP infighting is an extreme example of the dysfunction in many states as the chamber-of-commerce Republicans who used to define the party give way to populists who are deeply skeptical of elites and institutions of power.
State parties play a prominent role in helping recruit, support and promote candidates to ensure their political party can win as many local, state and national elections as possible. But in many states, Republicans are fighting among themselves about what it now means to be a party member. Many of the newer, Trump-aligned leaders come from grassroots backgrounds with less extensive experience in areas such as fundraising and coalition building, creating friction.
In Colorado, Dave Williams, the new head of the state Republican party, has attacked Republicans he deems insufficiently conservative. In June he announced he had negotiated an agreement with the Colorado Libertarian Party, which would stay out of certain races. “The Libertarians will only stand down if we recruit and nominate candidates who are more pro-freedom than not,” he said in the statement.
In Georgia, the fallout from the 2020 presidential election has state GOP officials fighting each other over whether pro-Trump Republicans who worked to overturn President Biden’s election should be purged or praised.
State GOP parties in Arizona and Minnesota are struggling financially.
In Michigan, the statewide party organization has embraced conspiracy theories and far-right political views. The party website, for example, has a section pledging to stop what it deems a global cabal. “The Democrat party, in direct partnership with China and globalist organizations, has abandoned Detroit and the working class,” it says.
“The new folks don’t even consider us Republicans anymore,” said John Truscott, once an aide to former Republican Gov. John Engler.
“I would say they’re running it into the ground,” he said of the new party stalwarts, “but it’s already imploded. They’re out of money, they can’t do anything.”
Kristina Karamo, chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, didn’t respond to multiple emails seeking comment.
Karamo, who was a poll watcher in the 2020 election, was elected chair of the state party in February, running on a platform that included denying the 2020 election results. Karamo ran for secretary of state in 2022 with backing from Trump. She lost by a double-digit margin but refused to concede the race. In June, she was among a group of defendants ordered by a judge to pay the legal fees incurred by Detroit after she unsuccessfully sued the city over absentee-voting procedures in the 2022 state election. She drew attention and criticism for her defense of Michigan Republican Party social-media posts comparing gun-safety legislation to the Holocaust.
Since she took the helm of the party, it has lost money. Its second-quarter financial report showed it has about $147,000 on hand.
Jase Bolger, a former Republican speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, said the state GOP has eschewed big donors for “grassroots” donors—which he called a mistake……