This week, President Biden visited Michigan and underscored his support of workers as the MIGOP continues to spiral into extremism
LANSING — Since last week, Donald Trump himself has stepped into the disaster that is the MAGA-Mania Battle for leadership of the MIGOP by endorsing Pete Hoekstra for Chair, setting off another round of infighting and overall chaos within the “party.” Instead of following them down yet another rabbit hole, Michigan Democrats celebrated voters turning out for the special election primaries, as well as President Biden’s visit to Michigan to support UAW autoworkers.
In this week’s soap opera episode, “Mayhem in the MIGOP,” the RNC gets involved in the MIGOP’s mud-slinging “civil war”, saying that Karamo was fairly removed — but *gasp* she still refuses to surrender! To make matters worse, the MIGOP also failed to meet campaign finance reporting deadlines, not helping their many other financial woes. And now, as Fox News reports they all seem to be at each others’ throats about who can fearmonger more and be a bigger anti-abortion extremist.
For the more functional party, the week saw voters turn out for special election primaries to fill the empty seats in the 13th and 25th state House districts proving that there are no days off when it comes to participating in our democracy. Then, the most pro-union president in history, Joe Biden continued to show his unwavering support for workers in Michigan as he visited Detroit and met with UAW autoworkers. AG Nessel also bravely defended reproductive rights by pushing back on the extremist lawsuit attempting to steal Michiganders’ hard-won freedoms.
The cherry on top of the week: Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes spoke to 19th News about the historic leadership of Black female state party Chairs in Michigan, Nevada, and South Carolina.
It has been another exciting week — take a look at our favorite highlights below:
First, the drama started as Trump abandoned his faithful follower Kristina Karamo by endorsing former Representative with shady international business ties, Pete Hoekstra for Chair of the MIGOP. Then, the RNC audited the meeting and vote that removed Karamo and deemed that it properly and fairly removed her — despite her insistence that (another) election doesn’t count. Still, she refuses to abdicate her title and position, bringing more dysfunction into this disgraced party:
Detroit Free Press: Trump weighs in on Michigan GOP chair fracas, backs Hoekstra
- Trump’s weighing in as to who should be the party chairman comes at a crucial time with both Karamo and Hoekstra, who was a key surrogate for Trump in the 2016 race in which he won Michigan, claiming to be chair. Hoekstra was voted in last weekend by a number of state central committee members following a vote Jan. 6 in which Karamo was removed…
- Karamo and her allies, however, have repeatedly insisted that the Jan. 6 meeting was called in violation of party rules and that the use of proxy votes at that meeting means the vote had no effect. Her chairmanship, she maintains, was also upheld by committee members voting at what she says was a properly called meeting Jan. 13…
- The entrance of Trump into the question of who is party chair, however, could have enormous effects on the debate, even as Karamo and her allies fight in court with the Hoekstra faction to settle the question…
MLive: RNC lawyers initially find Kristina Karamo ‘properly removed’ as MIGOP chair
- Attorneys from the Republican National Committee found in an initial review that Michigan Republican Party chair Kristina Karamo “was properly removed in accordance with the MIGOP bylaws,” according to a letter from Republican National Committee sent to Karamo and her rival party leader, Pete Hoekstra.
- The finding by the attorneys is only preliminary and doesn’t carry any official weight. It was sent to notify Hoekstra and Karamo that the RNC won’t recognize either of them at the RNC’s winter meeting Jan. 30 in Las Vegas, according to a copy of the letter review by MLive.
On Tuesday, second-term commissioner in Macomb County Mai Xiong and Westland City Council member Peter Herzberg won their primaries for the open House seats in their district. This special election will decide if Democrats will maintain our majority in the House and continue delivering on our historic, overwhelmingly popular legislative agenda. Thankfully, we believe in Xiong and Herzberg’s ability to defeat their opponents and put in the work to serve Michiganders:
AP: Democratic field set for special election that could determine control of Michigan House
- Both the 13th and 25th districts have historically voted Democratic, making Xiong and Herzberg the favorites to win the April 16 general election. Winning back control of the state House would allow the party to push through a number of policy priorities before the entire chamber is back up for reelection in November…
- The April winner in each district will serve the remainder of the term, through the end of this year…
This week also saw President Biden’s visit to Michigan to stand with UAW and Michigan workers. The President’s visit once again underscored the stark contrast between his record and Trump’s long history of anti-labor policies that abandoned workers here in Michigan at every turn. As Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes put it:
“Today, President Biden, the most pro-union, pro-worker president in history, is in Michigan showing up once again for the Michigan worker. Throughout his entire presidency, President Biden has delivered for Michigan workers – bringing jobs and manufacturing back to our state and ensuring that we are growing the middle class while leading in the global economy. Trump, on the other hand, will say anything to try to rewrite his record of abandoning Michigan workers and creating incentives to ship jobs overseas, because he is part of the billionaire class and sees the world from Park Avenue instead of an assembly plant floor.”
Detroit News: Biden tells UAW members in Michigan: ‘The whole country owes you’
- President Joe Biden touted U.S. manufacturing Thursday during his first campaign stop in Michigan of 2024, saying organized labor was a major reason why the country has the “strongest economy in the whole damn world…”
- Speaking to UAW members a week after the union endorsed his reelection, the president focused on an economic message just months after the UAW won 27% general wage increases over the life of a new four-year contract with the Detroit Three automakers following a targeted strike.
- “Wall Street didn’t build the middle class. Labor built the middle class,” Biden said. “When labor does well, everybody does well.”
AG Nessel also put in the work this week for Michiganders as she pushed back on the far-right, anti-choice organization Right to Life’s lawsuit trying to cruelly strip away reproductive rights. In 2022, Right to Life of Michigan also endorsed Michigan Republicans up and down the ballot, who – since that election – have consistently ignored the will of their constituents and attempted to chip away at reproductive freedom in the legislature. Find more details on exactly what this organization does and how AG Nessel is fighting back here.
Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes, who is only the second woman and the first Black woman to serve as Chair of the MDP, was featured in 19th News to talk about the important work of Black female Chairs in the three early primary states:
The 19th: For the first time, Black women are leading Democrats in early primary states
- Since Biden and Harris entered office, 14.8 million jobs have been created, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Barnes said in Michigan she and her team have noted the decrease in prescription drug prices and the administration’s support for union workers…
- “I recognize the importance of having conversations year-round, so that your first conversation with a voter isn’t asking for a vote,” Barnes said. “That was our goal, to build an organization, what we call Project 83” — named after Michigan’s 83 counties — “that lets folks have an ongoing relationship with their party.”
It has been another drama-filled episode this week from Republicans, and who knows what will happen next! Maybe a classic amnesia diagnosis or a back-from-the-dead surprise — either way, we know the MIGOP will keep us on our toes. Fortunately, Democrats are avoiding the drama and just getting the work done for Michiganders. Til next week.
Signing off,
Michigan Dems
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