Pete Hoekstra will endorse one of the two Hillsdale GOP factions. Courtesy | Facebook
A top candidate for Michigan GOP chairman told The Collegian he expects to recognize one of the dueling Hillsdale County Republican factions as the official party in the next three weeks.
“I’m pretty confident I know exactly where I’m going,” said Pete Hoekstra, former congressman and ambassador to the Netherlands who is vying to lead the state party. “But I want to dot the I’s and cross the T’s.”
Hoekstra’s choice for chairman of the county party remains unknown, but his endorsement of either the America First Republican Party in Hillsdale or the newer alternate group, led by Brent Leininger, could sway the contest for control of the party.
He said Saturday morning he had not discussed the issue with any Hillsdale County Republicans.
Before serving as Ambassador to the Netherlands under former president Donald Trump, Hoekstra represented Michigan’s second district in Congress for 18 years.
Trump endorsed Hoekstra for state chairman in a Truth Social post Friday night after a group of state party committee members voted Hoekstra in as chairman Jan. 6.
But Kristina Karamo, who has led the state party since last February, disputed that vote as “illegal” and “illegitimate,” according to CBS News. Karamo told the Detroit News Friday night the former president’s endorsement has changed “absolutely” nothing.
Lawyers for the Republican National Committee said Karamo was “properly removed,” according to The New York Times, but did not appoint Hoekstra as party chair. The conflict is ongoing, and Hoekstra told The Collegian the RNC will make that decision in the next week.
The Hillsdale County Republican Party has split into two groups since August 2022, when an “America First” faction barred more than 61 Republican members from the county party’s convention.
The members barred from the meeting held an alternative convention in the parking lot, electing Brent Leininger as chairman, and were recognized by outgoing state GOP chair Ron Weiser. But the new state GOP chair Kristina Karamo listed the “America First” faction’s leaders, including David Mosby and Jon Smith, as the HCRP contacts on the state party’s website.
Earlier this month, a Lenawee County judge ordered the party’s state committee, as well as Karamo, Mosby, Smith, and Josh Gritzmaker, 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.
David Stone, acting chairman of the “America First” faction, said the judge is “usurping his authority.”
“The judge can’t decide who the politicians are,” Stone said. “For him to just assume jurisdiction, like he did in his ruling, is completely unconstitutional.”
Leininger, who identified himself as chair of the HCRP executive committee, said he does not anticipate conflict between the executive committee and Hoekstra.
“Pete Hoekstra is an individual who will have respect for the rule of law, as those of us in Hillsdale County have done,” Leininger said.
Leininger said the executive committee will hold a county convention Feb. 15 and does not expect there will be a rival convention. The two factions held separate conventions last year.
Stone, the leader of the other faction, said his group would likely discuss Thursday evening whether to hold its own convention.
If Hoekstra chooses Leininger’s faction, Stone said, the America First faction can endorse candidates separately from the official Hillsdale County Republican Party.
“We can use a great influence to decide who gets in office and who doesn’t get in office,” Stone said.
Stone said he is not concerned that endorsing candidates apart from the county party would advantage Democrats in elections.
“At that point, the gloves are off and you can endorse anybody,” Stone said.
Karamo led the Michigan GOP for almost eleven months, but lackluster fundraising has left the state party strapped for cash and deep in debt, according to the Detroit News. The state party had close to $35,000 in its bank accounts in August, and took out a $110,000 loan to pay actor Jim Caviezel to speak at its conference last year.
State Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Coldwater, said Republicans should be focused on the November presidential election.
“Everybody needs to be focused on making sure we win back the White House this year,” Lindsey said.