Lawsuit seeks to have Karamo officially declared removed as Michigan GOP chairwoman
LANSING, MI — The newly installed chair of the Michigan Republican Party and others in the state GOP have filed a lawsuit seeking to have the group’s former leader Kristina Karamo officially removed from office.
Malinda Pego, Michigan GOP Administrative Vice Chairman Ali Hossein and Party Coalition Vice Chairman Hassan Nehme are among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Friday in Kent County Circuit Court in Grand Rapids.
The lawsuit alleges breach of contract.
A group of Republican members of the Michigan state committee voted on Jan. 6 to impeach Karamo, an election denier and supporter of former President Donald Trump. Many party leaders had demanded her resignation after a year of leadership plagued by debt and infighting.
About 45 people, not including proxies, attended the meeting in Commerce Township, where Karamo was voted out as chairman. Nearly 89% of those in attendance voted to impeach her, District 2 state committeewoman Bree Moeggenberg said after the meeting.
Pego had been co-chairman of Karamo. Pego serves as acting chairman until another election for the chairmanship is held.
Karamo was elected about a year ago. She was not present at the January 6 meeting and has made it clear she will not recognize the vote, claiming the meeting was unofficial and organized illegally. Karamo held her own meeting on January 13.
The Associated Press left an email Saturday seeking comment from Karamo.
The lawsuit says the Jan. 13 meeting was illegal and inappropriate.
“Ms. Karamo’s refusal to allow the Committee and the Michigan Republican Party to move forward, especially as the election cycle quickly approaches, requires swift judicial action,” the lawsuit said.
The internal dispute comes as Michigan Republicans look to bounce back from the 2022 midterm elections, in which they suffered historic losses. The party is aiming this year to flip an open U.S. Senate seat while helping the Republican presidential nominee win the battleground state.
Michigan is one of the swing states where parties overtaken by far-right leadership have struggled to overcome infighting and money problems. Similar situations have occurred in Georgia and Arizona, which pose a major issue in the 2024 presidential elections, where these states are poised to play a crucial role.
Karamo, a former community college instructor, rose through Michigan’s Republican ranks by spreading election conspiracies after the 2020 presidential election. She was ultimately endorsed by former President Donald Trump in her 2022 bid for secretary of state, losing by 14 percentage points in an outcome she still refuses to concede.