The hits just keep coming with Michigan Republicans broker than ever and in dire legal straits. Plus new MAGA Matt Hall digital ads.
LANSING — We feel like a broken record, but it has been another week and the Michigan Republican Party is falling deeper and deeper apart – at the start of the week, The Detroit News exposed, in two separate stories, that the MIGOP has a measly $35,000 in the bank and Chair Karamo seems to be making shady transfers of cash from her own campaign war chest, raising some major red flags. It was also announced this week that former speaker Rick Johnson is going to prison for corruption – and we have a lot of questions about what Rick Snyder knew about this scandal…
Meanwhile, Michigan Dems are staying focused on delivering for Michiganders and holding bad actors accountable. In the state Senate, Democrats passed the Prescription Drug Affordability Board through committee, and the MDP began to run ads to hold MAGA Matt Hall accountable for his racist and violent past.
All in all, it has been another week of Republicans entrenched in chaos and Democrats focused on lowering costs for Michigan families.
Check out more below on what happened in Michigan this week below:
To start off the week, the MIGOP’s dysfunction was once again highlighted in back-to-back damning Detroit News stories that highlighted their extreme financial deterioration. These bombshell, and frankly, embarrassing, articles show how the Karamo-Hall party is mired in financial debt and has no plan for serving the people of Michigan:
Detroit News: Michigan Republican Party faces financial turmoil, bank records show
- The Michigan Republican Party had about $35,000 in its bank accounts in August, according to internal records that flash new warning signs about the dire state of the GOP’s finances and raise questions about whether the organization is complying with campaign finance laws.
- “These numbers demonstrate that the party isn’t just broke, but broken,” [Tom] Leonard said.
Detroit News: Michigan GOP bank records reveal secret contribution from Karamo campaign
- Amid a financial crunch, Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Kristina Karamo’s past secretary of state campaign quietly loaned the GOP $15,000 earlier this year, according to internal bank records, revealing a move that experts say could violate disclosure laws.
- Since she took over, the Federal Election Commission, which regulates the state party’s federal fundraising account, has repeatedly raised questions about the party’s disclosures.
Failed Republican candidate James Craig also announced his next attempt to disappoint Michigan, entering a US Senate primary that will leave the Republican Party and its candidate even weaker than when they entered:
The Messenger: Private Power-Player Phone Calls Roil Michigan’s GOP Senate Race: ‘These Things Get Ugly’
- “…what’s in store for Michigan once Craig challenges Rogers: a brutal Republican primary where once-friendly allies are already accusing each other of skullduggery and outright deceit.”
While the MIGOP was busy with their own chaos, Michigan Dems were busy working to make Michiganders’ lives better by passing legislation through the Senate to create the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) to take on the sky-high prescription drug costs that burden families and hurt Michigan’s middle class:
Detroit Free Press: Prescription drug affordability board proposal passes Michigan Senate
- “Every year prescription drug costs go one direction: higher,” said bill sponsor state Sen. Darrin Camilleri… He said if Michigan creates its first-ever prescription drug affordability board it would help consumers take power back from “big pharma…”
- Proponents of the legislation in Michigan contend a board would hold pharmaceutical companies accountable and lower costs for patients.
Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes celebrated this vote saying, “Despite Republican opposition, we are one step closer to holding drugmakers accountable for their price gouging and record-high profits at the expense of Michiganders.”
To close it out, Michigan Dems launched a two-week digital ad campaign targeting MAGA Matt Hall following the shocking revelations of his abusive past. Voters need to know about MAGA Matt Hall’s history as the legislature considers additional common-sense gun safety reforms:
The Gander: New Ads Dig Up Skeletons Involving Violent Threats From Michigan GOP Leader
- The Michigan Democratic Party this week launched a series of advertisements on Facebook targeting Hall for allegedly threatening another student with gun violence, including sending a message that said: “I’ve got a shotgun rifle and I just put a bullet in it with your name on it!”
- “Matt Hall admitted to making violent, racist threats,” according to one of the video ads, which goes on to display a series of threatening messages from 2001 that Hall had reportedly sent to another student at a college in Maryland, where his girlfriend was studying at the time…
- Hall has been one of the most vocal opponents of those recent gun safety reforms. In a press release that has since been deleted from his website, Hall reportedly said that he will “always stand against these radical proposals to interfere with your right to bear arms.”
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It has been another jam-packed week in Michigan politics and we’re sure that next week, Republicans are going to find a way to outdo themselves.
What we know for certain is that Michigan Dems are staying laser-focused on building a brighter, fairer Michigan for all.
Signing off,
Michigan Dems
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