Conspiracy theorists' takeover attempt of Michigan GOP enrages donors: 'Doubling up on dumb'

Far-right losing candidates from last year's midterm elections have emerged as frontrunners to take over Michigan's Republican Party leadership — and according to Bridge Michigan, Republican donors are outraged.

"Wealthy conservatives flummoxed by the direction of the state party and ready to move on from 2020 election conspiracies continue to explore alternatives to help finance political candidates, according to longtime GOP officials, business leaders and consultants," reported Jonathan Oosting. "'I think the Republican Party clearly has not recognized where their fault lines are, and right now, what they're doing is doubling up on dumb,' said Jimmy Greene, executive director of the Associated Builders and Contractors Association of Michigan, which endorses and donates to GOP lawmakers."

Two main candidates have emerged for chair of the Michigan Republican Party. One is Kristina Karamo, the defeated GOP secretary of state candidate who has denied the 2020 election, trafficked in QAnon conspiracy theories, called transgender people "mentally ill adults playing dress-up," and compared premarital sex to pedophilia.

The other is Matt DePerno, the GOP's failed candidate for Michigan Attorney General, who has demanded emergency contraception be "stopped at the border" like fentanyl, and has personally led lawsuits to try to throw out the 2020 election results.

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"Karamo and DePerno are considered the front-runners in an 11-candidate field vying to replace Michigan GOP Chair Ron Weiser at this weekend’s convention. They are failed secretary of state and attorney general candidates who rose to prominence by claiming the 2020 presidential election was rigged against then-President Donald Trump," said the report. "Weiser, a real estate magnate, donated more than $3 million of his own money to the party last cycle but is not seeking re-election to another two-year term. As of November, the state party was essentially broke, reporting a $2.3 million debt in its state campaign and a $2 million surplus in a separate federal committee."

Michigan is not the only state where defeated far-right candidates are being given leadership positions by the state GOP. In Nevada, Sigal Chattah was appointed national committeewoman representing the state at the RNC, despite a disastrous attorney general bid in which she was caught saying in a private message that her Black opponent should be hanged.