Kristina Karamo refuses to step aside as Michigan GOP chair after RNC declares new leader

Kristina Karamo is still refusing to step aside as Michigan Republican Party chair, even after she was ousted and a replacement has been declared for the role.

A special committee convened by the Republican National Committee found former ambassador Pete Hoekstra was the rightful chair of the state GOP, but Karamo and her allies have vowed not to recognize their decision following months of internal dispute, reported MLive.

“It’s business as usual for the Michigan Republican Party," Karamo's faction said in a statement. “Today’s biased ruling further solidifies our position that the RNC has no authority to override the will of the MIGOP precinct delegates and state committee members. Their blatant disregard for the MIGOP bylaws and procedures is a travesty.”

Karamo was removed from her post at a Jan. 6 meeting where about 37 percent of the party's senior body voted against her, but in a second vote held a week later at a better-attended meeting she secured 55 percent of the state committee's support as leader.

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The RNC convened an eight-person panel Monday to hear arguments from lawyers representing each side and issued a nine-page report Wednesday evening ruling that the breakaway faction had followed party bylaws by appointing proxies to conduct the Jan. 6 meeting, but the panel did recommend the state party clarify their bylaws to resolve future matters.

Karamo still controls the party's bank accounts and assets, and she is being sued by Hoekstra's faction to have a judge declare the former ambassador the rightful GOP leader.

“It is time for the former Chair who was properly removed in accordance with the MIGOP bylaws to end her misinformation campaign,” Hoekstra said in a statement. “She should join the fight to re-elect Donald Trump rather than dividing this Party.”