GOP leaders in swing state panicked party is 'on the verge of implosion' before election

Infighting within the Republican Party's ranks has not only been apparent in the halls of Congress: It's now also threatening the stability of the GOP's operations in a state that's played a deciding role in the last two presidential elections.

According to a Saturday report in the New York Times, eight of Michigan's 13 Republican congressional district Republican Party chairs have now co-signed a letter asking Michigan GOP chair Kristina Karamo to resign and "put an end to the chaos." The letter came after approximately 40 of the party's state committee members called for a meeting to discuss Karamo's future by the end of the year. However, that meeting has yet to take place. Meanwhile, the Mitten State's Republican leaders are growing more anxious by the day about their party's outlook next year.

"The Michigan Republican Party is on the verge of imploding. I have more money in my campaign account than the state party has in its,” State Representative Mark Tisdel said. “Sooner or later, the creditors are going to come calling.”

Since her tenure began in February, Karamo — a former community college professor and 2020 election denier — has seen the Michigan GOP's debt load grow to $620,000. This effectively scared off would-be donors to contributing to the state party's coffers, under the assumption that it would go toward debt service rather than electing Republican in Michigan. Karamo proposed enlisting 500,000 supposed right-leaning businesses to contribute as little as $10 per month to the party, though that idea has so far been unsuccessful.

ALSO READ: Jim Jordan and James Comer have a new judicial plan: Protect GOP megadonors at all costs

The Times additionally reported that Karamo's leadership has led to deep fissures between GOP leaders in the Mitten State. In July, a GOP meeting reportedly "devolved into a fistfight" that resulted in one party official suffering stress fractures in his spine. The final straw for Karamo may have been the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, which failed to attract any significant GOP stars. Its keynote speaker was actor and QAnon conspiracy theorist Jim Caviezel, who was paid in excess of $100,000 for a 25-minute speech.

"They scored us as being solid Republican — a one, two, three or a four — and a number four being a RINO [Republican In Name Only]," former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Michigan) said. "We're supposed to be building a party, not dividing a party into our own categories."

Karamo has fought back against efforts to oust her, writing in a letter prior to Christmas that "deceptive and underhanded endeavors endanger the Michigan GOP’s drive toward victory in 2024" and that her detractors' efforts "disrupt the determination of the Republican men and women who are working tirelessly to win the spiritual war being fought on a cultural battlefield."