Pete Hoekstra has yet to endorse one of the two Hillsdale GOP factions. Courtesy | Facebook
Former president Donald Trump won Michigan’s Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, carrying 76.3% of the votes in Hillsdale County and 68.3% statewide.
Nikki Haley, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor, took second with 18.4% in Hillsdale County and 26.6% statewide. The Michigan primary victory was Trump’s fifth of his primary sweep, following Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.
“Michigan gave President Trump his strongest victory of the primary season so far,” said state Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Coldwater. “Hillsdale County came out particularly strong for him.”
The difference signals the pro-Trump bent of Hillsdale County, said state Sen. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe. The former president outperformed President Joe Biden in 2020 with 73% of the vote to Biden’s 25%.
“Hillsdale is all-in on President Trump,” Bellino said. “With numbers like this, it’s pretty apparent Hillsdale wasn’t buying what Mrs. Haley was selling.”
Trump won 12 of the 55 delegates up for grabs in Michigan, while Haley won four. The remaining 39 delegates will be awarded at the state convention on March 2 in Grand Rapids, where Trump is expected to have a strong showing, according to Politico.
“This convention is for the elected delegates from every district,” Bellino said. “I have full faith and trust they will do the next right thing to keep our momentum going forward for the 2024 election.”
David Stone, acting chairman of America First Hillsdale Republicans, said he was concerned that only 21.6% of registered Republicans in Hillsdale County had voted in the primary, according to the county clerk’s office.
“These are poor numbers,” Stone said. “We need more people to get more interested in our country and vote.”
The former president’s resounding victory came as a judge appeared to resolve two months of infighting that has split the Michigan Republican Party, according to the Detroit News. Kent County Circuit Court Judge J. Joseph Rossi ruled Tuesday night that former Michigan GOP chair Kristina Karamo was legitimately removed by a Jan. 6 vote of the state party committee.
Karamo had disputed that vote as “illegal” and “illegitimate,” according to CBS News, and still claimed to be the party’s rightful chair. But after the judge’s ruling, Karamo is now legally barred from presenting herself as chair of the Michigan GOP.
Both the Republican National Committee and Trump have endorsed Pete Hoekstra, a former congressman and ambassador to the Netherlands, as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, after the state committee voted him in on Jan. 6.
A new state party chairman could affect the leadership of the Hillsdale County Republican Party. The Hillsdale GOP has been split into two groups since August 2022, when an “America First” faction blocked more than 61 Republican members from the county party’s convention.
In January, a Lenawee County judge ordered the party’s state committee, as well as Karamo and Smith, to pay more than $25,000 in fines when he found them in contempt of court, according to MLive. The judge said state party leaders and members of the “America First” faction failed to follow a prior ruling that the “America First” members were not the leaders of the county party.
Still, both factions held conventions on Feb. 15 and elected a slate of delegates to send to the state convention in Grand Rapids on March 2. Hoekstra told The Collegian at the end of January he would choose between the two factions in three weeks, but has not yet recognized either.
“The delegates will have their say Saturday at the district conventions in Grand Rapids,” said Brent Leininger, who identified himself as chair of the HCRP executive committee.
Leininger told The Collegian in January he does not anticipate conflict between the executive committee and Hoekstra.
Stone told The Collegian he “fully supports” the Kent County judge’s Tuesday ruling. He said he is not concerned that holding the Feb. 15 convention will lead to legal penalties after the Lenawee County judge’s order in January.