Messy infighting at Michigan GOP about to get a 'hilarious degree' worse: columnist

Michigan will hold its primary election Tuesday as its state Republican Party remains in turmoil — and the situation could become a lot messier.

President Joe Biden faces a protest vote on the Democratic side regarding his policies in Israel and Gaza, but chaos is brewing over the selection of 16 of the state's 55 Republican National Convention delegates in the primary contest, which will be followed Saturday with the selection of 39 more at a state party convention, wrote MSNBC columnist Steve Benen.

"Right off the bat, the fact that Michigan Republicans are holding both a primary and a convention, with competition for delegates in both, adds a layer of complexity to a process that’s far more straightforward in other states," Benen wrote.

"But that’s not the funny part," he added. "Rather, the truly amazing angle to this story is that the Michigan Republican Party is holding two state conventions because, to a hilarious degree, there are two Michigan Republican Parties."

Donald Trump-backed election denier Kristina Karamo was recently ousted as state GOP chair after chasing off experienced leaders and donors, and party officials chose former Rep. Pete Hoekstra as her replacement — but she's refusing to accept the vote to remove her and continues to control the party's bank accounts.

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"So, who’s the current chair of the Michigan Republican Party?" Benen wrote. "No one seems to be able to answer that question with certainty."

Further complicating matters, both Hoekstra and Karamo plan to hold dueling nominating conventions this week.

"Are things messy for Republicans at the national level? Yes," Benen wrote. "Are those conditions worse than Republican messes at the state level? No."