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Chris Pratt endorses billionaire Rick Caruso for LA mayor after seeing city’s ‘decline’ into ‘utter disarray’

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Chris Pratt backed a political candidate Sunday ahead of midterm elections and gave his support to billionaire Rick Caruso in the Los Angeles race for mayor.

Pratt, 43, took to Instagram stories where he virtually stumped for Caruso, a former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission. 

Caruso also served as a commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power under Mayor Tom Bradley in 1985.

“I’ve lived in LA for over 20 years. It’s been great to me. In that time I’ve seen what many residents here have seen, the city’s gradual decline into pain and utter disarray,” Pratt wrote online. “If you live here, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

TEXAS GOVERNOR CANDIDATE BETO O’ROURKE GETS ENDORSEMENT FROM OPRAH WINFREY

Chris Pratt gave political support to the local Los Angeles mayoral race and backed billionaire Rick Caruso. 
(Getty Images)

Chris Pratt endorsed Rick Caruso on Instagram.
(Chris Pratt/ Instagram)

“I don’t normally support political candidates. But in this election, there’s too much to lose.”

He added, “If you’re an LA voter, I urge you to vote for @rickcarusola. He’s a builder. He knows how to get s–t done. He’s the guy for our city. Rick Caruso for LA Mayor.”

CELEBRITIES WHO WANT YOU TO VOTE AND ARE ENDORSING CANDIDATES AHEAD OF MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Pratt’s mother-in-law, Maria Shriver, also made it known who she was voting for, and has long supported Caruso on Twitter.

“This race is super tight and every vote matters. If you want Los Angeles to be different than it is today, the choice is clear with @RickCarusoLA. Change is critical to the city’s future. It’s up to us – let’s go,” she tweeted.

Caruso, who was previously registered as a Republican, faces Congresswoman Karen Bass in Tuesday’s midterms. Bass is in her sixth term representing the 37th Congressional District following re-election in November 2020.

Prior to serving in Congress, Bass represented the 47th district in the California State Assembly for six years.

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Bass and Caruso are running to replace termed-out mayor Eric Garcetti, but the hotly contested race has LA divided between the real estate developer (who is known for his hotspots including The Grove and The Commons in Calabasas) and former social worker who has advocated for Los Angeles communities for decades.

Rep. Karen Bass speaks during the Los Angeles mayoral debate at the Skirball Cultural Center in September. She’s running against Rick Caruso in the midterm elections
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles Mayoral Candidate Rick J. Caruso speaks at forum at Emerson College in October.
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Kim Kardashian threw her support behind Caruso in May, while Katy Perry tweeted her endorsement for Caruso the following month. Snoop Dogg, Elon Musk, and Gwyneth Paltrow are all Caruso supporters, too.

According to government records, Caruso was a Republican for over two decades before becoming an independent in 2011. Caruso changed back to Republican in 2016 — a year when he served as California campaign co-chair for Republican John Kasich’s presidential bid — and then to independent again in 2019. He became a Democrat shortly before entering the mayoral race in February.

President Barack Obama recently backed Bass, in addition to Steven Speilberg, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Danny Trejo, and former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

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Tracy Wright is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to tracy.wright@fox.com.

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Oprah Winfrey endorses John Fetterman over Dr. Mehmet Oz in high-stakes Pennsylvania Senate race

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Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday that she was endorsing Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman over Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race. 

While Winfrey is a Democrat herself, it’s notable because Oz first came to prominence as a health expert on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” before he got his own talk show in 2009, which was produced her company Harpo. His show ended in January. 

“I’ll tell you all this, if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would have already cast my vote for John Fetterman for many reasons,” Winfrey said during a virtual conversation with community leaders. 

Fetterman’s campaign said Winfrey’s support for the Democrat over Oz “speaks volumes.” 

OPRAH SAYS IT WILL BE ‘REALLY FRIGHTENING’ IF STACEY ABRAMS DOESN’T WIN: ‘TOO MUCH AT STAKE’ 

Oprah Winfrey, left, endorsed Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, right, on Thursday. 
(Steve Jennings/Mark Makela)

“Oprah is widely regarded as the person who helped launch Dr. Oz’s career, and knows him well,” the campaign said. 

Fetterman called her endorsement an “honor and privilege,” saying she is a “leader on so many issues — fighting for our democracy, passing common-sense gun reform, and ensuring racial justice. I’m grateful for Oprah’s support and trust on the issues that matter to people across the country and Pennsylvania as we close out this campaign.”

Dr. Mehmet Oz and media personality Oprah Winfrey cut the ribbon to signal the start of the “Live Your Best Life Walk” to celebrate O, The Oprah Magazine’s 10th Anniversary at Intrepid Welcome Center on May 9, 2010, in New York City.
(Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

FETTERMAN LOSES SUPPORT IN PENNSYLVANIA SENATE RACE AFTER DEBATE PERFORMANCE, POLL FINDS 

Following the primaries, Winfrey previously declined to make an endorsement in the race, saying it was up to Pennsylvanians to decide. 

Since then, the polls have tightened, with Fetterman’s lead having shrunk. 

Winfrey also endorsed Democrats in other races. 

Democratic Senate candidate, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, left, and Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, right.
(AP Photo)

“That is not the only race that matters,” she said. “If I was in North Carolina, as you mentioned, Sister [Cheri] Beasley there, and if I was in Florida, I’d be supporting Val Demings. If I was in Wisconsin, it would be Mandela Barnes. In Nevada, [Catherine] Cortez Masto, and in Texas, Beto O’Rourke and Raphael Warnock and the incredible Stacey Abrams, of course, in Georgia.”

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She continued, “There are clear choices out there… the values we hold dear, the values of inclusion, the values of compassion and that so many of us share… Use your discernment and choose wisely for the democracy of our country.” 

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Oprah Winfrey endorses Fetterman over Oz in Pennsylvania Senate race

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CNN
 — 

The woman who helped turn Mehmet Oz into a household name is backing the Republican’s opponent in Pennsylvania’s key Senate race.

Television icon Oprah Winfrey announced on Thursday night that she prefers Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman over Oz in the midterm election contest.

“If I lived in Pennsylvania, I would’ve already cast my vote for John Fetterman, for many reasons,” WInfrey said during a conversation she hosted on voting.

Oz rose to national fame as a regular guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and later when Winfrey backed his own spin off, “The Dr. Oz Show.”

Winfrey told New York Magazine in 2021 that it was “up to the residents of Pennsylvania to decide who will represent them.”

Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, cheered the endorsement on Thursday night.

“It is an honor and privilege to have Oprah’s support in this race,” said Fetterman in a statement. “She is a leader on so many issues — fighting for our democracy, passing common-sense gun reform, and ensuring racial justice. I’m grateful for Oprah’s support and trust on the issues that matter to people across the country and Pennsylvania as we close out this campaign.”

Winfrey during the conversation also voiced support for other Democratic candidates in key races, including North Carolina’s Cheri Beasley, Florida’s Val Demings, Wisconsin’s Mandela Barnes, Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, Texas’ Beto O’Rourke, and Georgia’s Raphael Warnock and Stacey Abrams.

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McConnell endorses bill to prevent efforts to subvert presidential election results

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has endorsed a bipartisan electoral count reform bill in the Senate, giving the legislation a key boost over a similar bill the House passed last week. Both bills seek to prevent future presidents from trying to overturn election results through Congress, and were directly prompted by the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win.

The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), would amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and reaffirm that the vice president has only a ministerial role at the joint session of Congress to count electoral votes, as well as raise the threshold necessary for members of Congress to object to a state’s electors.

Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, McConnell said he would “strongly support” the legislation, saying it did not “rashly replace current law with something untested.”

“Congress’s process for counting their presidential electors votes was written 135 ago. The chaos that came to a head on Jan. 6 of last year certainly underscored the need for an update,” McConnell said. “The Electoral Count Act ultimately produced the right conclusion … but it’s clear the country needs a more predictable path.”

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is also likely to back the bill. Both Schumer and McConnell sit on the Senate Rules Committee, which will meet Tuesday afternoon to vote on the legislation.

Their votes would all but cement the bill’s likelihood of passing the Senate. The bill already enjoyed strong bipartisan support, with 11 Democratic and 11 Republican senators signing on to co-sponsor it last week.

“We are pleased that bipartisan support continues to grow for these sensible and much-needed reforms to the Electoral Count Act of 1887,” Collins and Manchin said in a joint statement last week. “Our bill is backed by election law experts and organizations across the ideological spectrum. We will keep working to increase bipartisan support for our legislation that would correct the flaws in this archaic and ambiguous law.”

After the 2020 election, President Donald Trump had falsely told his supporters that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to reject electoral votes already certified by the states. Pence did not do so — and has repeatedly emphasized that the Constitution provides the vice president with no such authority. But on Jan. 6, many in the pro-Trump mob that overran the Capitol began chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!” on the misguided belief that the vice president could have stopped Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.

The House last week passed the similar Presidential Election Reform Act, written by Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), on a 229-203 vote. Cheney and Lofgren argued that the risk of another effort to steal a presidential election remains high, as Trump continues to spread baseless claims of widespread election fraud, and as pro-Trump candidates in state and local elections around the country have embraced those falsehoods.

The Senate and House bills differ chiefly in how much they would change the threshold necessary for members of both chambers to object to a state’s results. Currently only one member each from the House and Senate are required to object to a state’s electors. The House electoral reform bill would raise that threshold to at least one-third of the members of both the House and the Senate, while the Senate version would raise that threshold to at least one-fifth of the members of both the House and the Senate.

Schumer had withheld his support because he preferred Democrats’ sweeping voting bill that also addressed access to the polls. But after that bill failed in the Senate due to a lack of Republican support earlier this year, the bipartisan working group forged ahead on a narrower bill that would implement guardrails and clarifications regarding how presidential electors are appointed, submitted and approved.

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Rules panel who worked on his own electoral bill, said Monday that it was “critical” they pass legislation as soon as possible.

“This isn’t comprehensive voting rights reforms but it is important because of the danger that we experienced on Jan. 6,” King told The Washington Post. “It’s critical we do this before next year when we are in the throes of the presidential election.”

Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill saw little support from GOP lawmakers. Only nine Republicans broke ranks and joined Democrats in supporting the measure, and none of those nine will be members of Congress next year — either because they lost their primaries or chose to retire. Several of the House Republicans who opposed the bill, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), criticized it as unconstitutional.

The Biden administration issued a statement last week in support of the House bill, calling it another step in “critically needed reform of the 135-year-old Electoral Count Act.”

“Americans deserve greater clarity in the process by which their votes will result in the election of a President and Vice President,” the Office of Management and Budget said. “As [the Presidential Election Reform Act] proceeds through the legislative process, the Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to ensure lasting reform consistent with Congress’ constitutional authority to protect voting rights, tally electoral votes, and strengthen our democracy.”

Leigh Ann Caldwell contributed to this report.

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Trump endorses ‘ERIC’ in Missouri primary, a name shared by rivals

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POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — The Republicans competing for the U.S. Senate nomination in Tuesday’s primary here spent their final day of campaigning in a familiar state of suspense — checking their phones for a statement from Donald Trump.

But by day’s end, the former president injected more chaos into an already tumultuous race, simply endorsing “ERIC” — a first name shared by two rival candidates — former governor Eric Greitens and state Attorney General Eric Schmitt — as he suggested he was leaving it to voters to choose between them.

“There is a BIG Election in the Great State of Missouri, and we must send a MAGA Champion and True Warrior to the U.S. Senate, someone who will fight for Border Security, Election Integrity, our Military and Great Veterans, together with having a powerful toughness on Crime and the Border,” Trump wrote in a statement. “I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds, much as they did when they gave me landslide victories in the 2016 and 2020 Elections, and I am therefore proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

Trump’s endorsements in the 2022 Republican primaries

The unusual statement came hours after Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I will be endorsing in the Great State of Missouri Republican race (Nomination) for Senate sometime today!” In recent days, several of the candidates to replace retiring Sen. Roy Blunt (R) made an 11th-hour pitch for the nod in the bitterly contested race.

At his final pre-election rally at a St. Louis-area GOP headquarters, Schmitt told supporters that he’d been “endorsed by President Trump,” and that he’d thanked Trump when he called with the news. On Twitter, before his final rally at an airport near the state’s largest city, Greitens, too, said that he’d thanked Trump over the phone.

The dual endorsement was a small victory for Senate Republicans, who had worried that Trump would endorse Greitens outright. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, had lobbied Trump on Monday, urging him not to back Greitens, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private interaction.

The day’s events amounted to a new dose of turmoil in a race that has been filled with it. Greitens, who governed this state for 16 months before he resigned amid personal and political scandals and has more recently faced domestic violence accusations that he denies, has campaigned as a martyred outsider who wrestled in the same “swamp” as Trump. To stop him, GOP-aligned donors had poured at least $6 million into a super PAC, Show Me Values, with ads that highlight the accusations of abuse and warn that he isn’t fit to represent Missouri.

“We’ve got all the right enemies,” a defiant Greitens told an evening crowd at a house party here last week. “What that tells me is that they recognize that our campaign is a threat to business as usual.”

Ahead of Tuesday, some Republicans here were hopeful that the ads had neutralized Greitens, and that a possible endorsement from Trump would seal the race for Schmitt. The campaign for a seat Republicans have held since 1987 has tested whether concerns about electability, and a scandal-plagued candidate dragging down the party, are enough to stop a candidate who taps into conservative grievances and distrust in the media and party establishment.

Schmitt and Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who is backed by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), have attacked Greitens while trying to distance themselves from Republican leaders. By the race’s final weekend, both had called for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to be replaced as GOP leader, and both were warning that Greitens could put the seat at risk in November.

“Are you going to vote for the former governor who’s abused his wife and his kid, assaulted his child, and quit on Missouri?” said Schmitt at a rally with supporters in Columbia last week. The attorney general, who has pushed for Trump’s support as he’s risen in limited public polling, was referencing allegations from Greitens’s ex-wife, which the candidate had called a distraction, after separate accusations that forced him from office in 2018 resulted in no charges against him.

“This man is a quitter,” said Schmitt. “And when the going gets tough, he got going.”

Schmitt said after those remarks that he was still seeking Trump’s endorsement, with the former president likely “aware of the separation in the polls this last week.” But Trump, whose endorsements in other states have occasionally saddled the party with weak nominees, remained quiet for most of the race, apart from a statement condemning Hartzler.

That left many Republican voters guessing which candidate shares the values and priorities they appreciated from Trump — or at least, the fighting spirit against an establishment they believe had given up too much ground to liberals.

“Eric Schmitt is the establishment candidate,” said Kym Franklin, a 55-year old social worker who supports Greitens. Waiting for the former governor to speak at a Saturday rally, at a sports bar where neon marked the “stairway to heaven” and the “highway to hell,” she compared the ex-governor to ex-presidents. “They both got railroaded, and we the people who voted for them got robbed.”

Show Me Values PAC, funded with start-up cash from pro-Schmitt donors Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R), worked in recent weeks to try to demolish such impressions. In some of its 30-second spots, an actress portraying Greitens’s ex-wife read from an affidavit that accused him of “abuse,” both against her and against their young son. Greitens has called his ex-wife’s allegations “baseless.” But that has been unconvincing to some Republican primary voters.

“I wish Greitens would drop out,” said Matt Fisher, a 42-year-old loan officer who was leaning toward Schmitt. “He continues to embarrass us. He’s a disgrace to our state.”

Greitens entered the primary in March 2021, claiming to Fox News that he’d been “completely exonerated.” An investigation found no wrongdoing on a campaign finance charge, and a felony charge against him alleging invasion of privacy against a woman, his former hairdresser, whom he admitted to having an affair with, was dropped by prosecutors.

The former governor has won some endorsements from Trump allies with intense followings, such as former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Greitens has portrayed himself as a foe of RINOs, which stands for “Republicans in name only.” He had faced criticism for releasing a campaign ad that shows him pretending to hunt down members of his own party with guns — a message his campaign monetized with “RINO hunting permits” to place on vehicle windows.

“We have to recognize we are in a fight against evil,” Greitens said at his Saturday rally in St. Charles County, where he condemned Republicans who he said had defied Trump’s effort to finish a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Blunt, whose retirement plans kicked off this primary, was one of the Republicans who disapproved of Trump’s decision to shuffle around defense funds to pay for the wall. And in March, after the release of an affidavit from Sheena Greitens accusing her ex-husband of abuse, Blunt had called on Greitens to quit the race.

Public and private polling, which has a spotty record in Missouri, found that the affidavit hurt Greitens. The ad campaign focused on the new charges, say strategists, helped Schmitt and Hartzler push ahead. And support for Team PAC, which had given Greitens air cover before the affidavit from his ex-wife, had dried up. In the closing stages of the race, some Greitens backers have waged smaller-scale efforts to help him prevail.

Blake Johnson, a 45-year old contractor, installed a fridge-size Greitens sign on the bed of his Ford F-350. Driving through St. Charles County, a Republican stronghold outside St. Louis, he’d tracked the support he saw for the ex-governor. “I had three people flip me off today, but they were all driving Priuses, so you assume they leaned left,” he said on Saturday. “I had 21 people give me a thumbs up.”

In late June, former U.S. attorney John Wood launched an independent Senate bid and called Greitens a “danger to our democracy,” convincing some Republicans that Greitens might lose a November election that anyone else in his party should win.

“It seems like Greitens might be dead now,” said Democratic candidate Lucas Kunce, a veteran and anti-monopoly campaigner running for his party’s nomination, at a Wednesday night town hall in Columbia. If Greitens lost on Tuesday, Kunce hoped that Wood and the GOP nominee might tumble into “a little civil war — the country club Republicans versus the Trump side.”

Other candidates in the crowded field have also pursued Trump’s backing and run in his mold. Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) has run a shoestring campaign while urging Trump to endorse him. Mark McCloskey, an attorney who became a Trump 2020 surrogate after pointing a rifle at Black Lives Matter protesters marching through his St. Louis neighborhood, is also in the race.

Hartzler and Schmitt have different conservative bona fides, and different strategies for winning. Earlier this year, Hartzler, the farmer-turned-legislator, was censored by Twitter — a badge of honor in GOP primaries — for an ad singling out transgender female athletes.

“Women’s sports are for women,” Hartzler said in the ad, which focused on University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas. “Not men pretending to be women.”

But on July 8, shortly after the Missouri Farm Bureau endorsed Hartzler, Trump posted an anti-endorsement of the candidate on his Truth Social website. “I don’t think she has what it takes to take on the Radical Left Democrats,” Trump wrote.

“Maybe he’s listened to some lies from my opponents,” Hartzler speculated in an interview on Friday, after a meet-and-greet at a restaurant in Missouri’s conservative Bootheel region.

About 60 voters showed up to eat ribs and talk policy at the Hickory Log Restaurant, a day after Greitens drew a smaller crowd. While she had called Trump’s remarks on Jan. 6 “unpresidential,” voters, she said, knew she supported his policy agenda.

“It’s caused my supporters to be even more energized,” Hartzler said of the Trump statement. “They have overwhelmingly said: Clearly, he doesn’t know you. We know you, and we want to fight even harder for you.”

As the primary drew closer, Schmitt had checked more of Trump’s boxes. After a Wednesday stop at a restaurant in Columbia, and after dodging questions about whether McConnell, whom Trump has criticized, should remain the GOP’s leader in the Senate, Schmitt took the same position as Trump, Greitens, Hartzler and McCloskey. It was time for McConnell to go.

“Mitch McConnell hasn’t endorsed me, and I don’t endorse him,” Schmitt told reporters after a stop at a restaurant in Columbia. The Senate needed “new leadership,” he added, and the GOP had “changed pretty dramatically” since the 80-year old McConnell got to the Senate.

As Schmitt and Greitens touted Trump’s words on Tuesday, other Missouri Republicans cracked a smile. Hartzler congratulated Eric McElroy, a comedian who filed for the Senate race but ran no visible campaign. “He’s having a big night!” Hartzler said in a statement.

State Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, whose campaign for the seat had received little traction, joked on Twitter that his name is Eric and he was “honored and humbled” to get the endorsement.

Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.

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Pence endorses in Arizona governor’s race, putting him at odds with Trump

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Former vice president Mike Pence is endorsing Arizona gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson, a developer who has long been involved in Republican politics, instead of former president Donald Trump’s chosen candidate, Kari Lake, a former TV anchor who continues to falsely claim that the 2020 election was “stolen.”

The endorsement illustrates the division in the party between Trump supporters who value loyalty to him over all else and those who want to move on from endlessly litigating the 2020 election, including those who are grateful that Pence and other Republicans blocked Trump’s attempts to overturn the results. Trump and Pence, who are each thinking about running for president in 2024, both plan to be in Arizona on Friday to campaign for their chosen candidates ahead of an Aug. 2 primary.

Pence called Taylor Robson “the best choice for Arizona’s future” in a statement provided to The Washington Post. “As Arizona Democrats pursue the reckless Biden-Harris agenda, Karrin Taylor Robson is the only candidate for governor that will keep Arizona’s border secure and streets safe, empower parents and create great schools, and promote conservative values,” he said.

Taylor Robson praised Pence’s conservative credentials and said she wants to lead as he has.

“Modern politics is full of charlatans and fakes, but Vice President Pence is the genuine article,” she said in a statement to The Post. “He has never wavered in his conservative beliefs and commitment to our Constitution, and left a rock-solid legacy as Governor to which I will aspire.”

The endorsement comes two months after Pence and other prominent Republicans lined up behind Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), whom Trump targeted for certifying the 2020 election. Kemp won in a landslide. But Arizona’s gubernatorial primary appears far tighter, raising the stakes for Pence. Split-screen campaign events Friday will underscore Pence’s breaks from the former president since he, too, defied pressure to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss.

Taylor Robson also has the backing of Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), a longtime friend and ally of Pence, who co-chairs the Republican Governors Association and similarly drew Trump’s ire for affirming the results of the last election.

Analysis: Republicans grow bolder in endorsing against Trump

Lake and Taylor Robson don’t offer dramatically different visions on issues like the economy and water conservation. Both want the state to take a more muscular position on border security, for example, and want to finish Trump’s border wall. But they diverge on the 2020 election.

Lake has called the election system “rotten to the core” and has claimed, without evidence, that thousands of fraudulent votes were cast in 2020: “I refuse to stop talking about it until our elected official stand up and do something. We want people to be arrested, prosecuted and thrown in jail.”

In a televised debate in June, Lake repeated the falsehood of widespread fraud in the election and said that Joe Biden “lost the election and he shouldn’t be in the White House.” She said she would not have certified Arizona’s election results.

During the debate, Taylor Robson, who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and helped raise $1.3 million for both of his presidential campaigns, agreed the 2020 election “was absolutely not fair” but would not say it was fraudulent.

She cited new voting rules and laws ushered in by some jurisdictions amid the pandemic and so-called suppression by big tech and media of information damaging to Democrats.

“All of those things together led to 78 percent of Arizona Republicans thinking something was wrong with the election,” she said during the debate. “But I am focused on 2022 because the left is 10 steps ahead of us and I don’t have the time to explain what they’re doing.”

Taylor Robson said she will accept the results of the gubernatorial election. Lake said at a recent campaign event that Taylor Robson’s rivals “might be trying to set the stage for another steal.”

Emily Ryan, a conservative political consultant in Arizona, said the governor’s race showcases a nationwide struggle over the GOP’s identity, with two leading candidates who share many of the same conservative stances on policy but represent different styles of governing.

“There is a part of the Republican Party that’s not comfortable with the direction that Trump has taken the party and that brand of politics and is sort of trying to wrestle back some control,” Ryan said.

In a statement last week, a spokesperson for Lake denigrated Taylor Robson’s backers as “Republicans in Name Only,” one of Trump’s favorite insults. “The RINO establishment is lining up behind Karrin Taylor Robson,” spokesperson Ross Trumble wrote in an email.

An adviser to Pence said the former vice president will visit the border on Friday, joined by Taylor Robson and Brandon Judd, who is president of the National Border Patrol Council and has endorsed her. Pence will also head to Phoenix, said the adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the endorsement more candidly.

Trump is scheduled to appear at a rally in northern Arizona the same day to campaign for Lake and a slate of his preferred statewide candidates. He originally planned to visit this past weekend but rescheduled to Friday after the death of his former wife, Ivana Trump.

The adviser said Pence sees Taylor Robson as “the most conservative candidate in the race” and was considering an endorsement before Ducey announced his support on July 7. Pence and Ducey grew close during Ducey’s own run for governor in 2014, and Pence wants to help Ducey in his final year as governor and chairman of the RGA, those close to both men said.

A Pence adviser also noted Lake’s attacks on Pence last month after he visited the border in Arizona. Lake told Newsmax she does not think Pence has a “snowball’s chance in Phoenix to win” if he runs for president in 2024 and said many people are “disappointed” in him for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when he helped certify the election after pro-Trump rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol.

“I think that was something that we as advisers were frustrated by, and it certainly kind of refocused our attention on that race,” Pence’s adviser said of Lake’s criticisms.

Lake, a one-time Democrat during the early years of President Barack Obama’s first term, is running as an America-first populist in the mold of Trump. She secured his endorsement about a year ago and has spent the intervening time building a passionate base energized by her embrace of baseless conspiracy theories and divisive culture war issues, including accusing drag queens of being dangerous to children and advocating putting cameras in classrooms to make sure teachers don’t teach critical race theory-related curriculum.

Taylor Robson is campaigning as a more traditional low-tax, less-government conservative focused on business-friendly policies. She lagged well behind Lake in the polls for much of the race but has drawn closer recently while far outspending Lake, breaking statewide campaign spending records.

With early voting already underway, Pence’s endorsement could help sway moderate Republicans and independent voters who have requested GOP ballots, especially in Phoenix’s far-flung suburbs that have helped settle close contests in recent years. The former vice president has also long been popular with Christian conservatives. Republicans Scott Neely and Paola Tulliani Zen also are vying for the Republican nomination.

Some see a Pence endorsement as risky for Taylor Robson since it will highlight the national currents shaping the race.

“Do you really want to take Trump on or do you just want to continue to narrate your own story?” Chuck Coughlin, an Arizona political strategist whose firm works with Republican candidates, said amid reports Pence might weigh in. “And my feeling is a Pence endorsement makes it more about Trump.”

But for Pence, Coughlin said, the Arizona governor’s race is an opportunity to send a message and possibly share in a victory.

“You’re thinking about Iowa,” he said, referring to the state that traditionally kicks off presidential primary season. “You’re thinking about the next two years.”

With a possible campaign of his own on the horizon, Pence has been stumping for Republican candidates around the country and has a foundation, Advancing American Freedom, that advocates for conservative causes such as restrictions on abortion. Pence’s Advancing American Freedom Foundation recently made a six-figure contribution to an ad campaign by the antiabortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which will support antiabortion legislation at the state level, according to Pence’s adviser.

Pence’s Jan. 6 tightrope: Owning his role while courting Trump voters

Pence’s support for Taylor Robson marks his highest-profile endorsement since he campaigned in Georgia with Kemp, who easily defeated Trump’s handpicked challenger, former senator David Perdue. Pence framed the race as referendum on direction of the GOP.

“When you say yes to Governor Brian Kemp tomorrow, you will send a deafening message all across America that the Republican Party is the party of the future,” he told an Atlanta-area crowd on the eve of the primary. Republican governors around the country, including Ducey, had rallied to protect incumbents from Trump-endorsed primary challengers amid what one ex-governor dubbed a “personal vendetta tour.”

Trump’s gubernatorial picks in Idaho and Nebraska also suffered defeats this year. But the former president’s endorsement remains coveted in GOP primaries and has given significant boosts to candidates for the House and Senate.

Pence and Trump have also both endorsed Sarah Sanders, the former White House press secretary, for governor in Arkansas. And last month Pence announced his support for Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), a gubernatorial candidate in New York, who won his primary and also had the New York GOP’s backing. Trump remained neutral in the New York primary, which featured multiple allies of the former president — including Andrew Giuliani, the son of Rudy Giuliani.

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Donald Trump endorses Darren Bailey in Illinois GOP primary

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MENDON, Ill. — Former President Donald Trump used a rural west-central Illinois fairgrounds rally Saturday night to endorse Darren Bailey for the Republican nomination for governor in Tuesday’s primary as he also restated his backing for U.S. Rep. Mary Miller and took a victory lap for the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

“Darren is a farmer and he’s a fighter and he has been an outstanding warrior in the Illinois State Senate where he’s totally, totally respected by all of them,” Trump told a crowd of thousands at the Adams County Fairgrounds near Quincy.

“He will crack down on the violent crime that is devouring our Democrat-run cities and restore the state of Illinois to greatness. Darren has my complete and total endorsement,” Trump said, labeling first-term, reelection seeking Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker “one of the worst governors in America.”

MENDON – Darren Bailey, Republican candidate for Illinois governor, and U.S. Representative Mary Miller have a word after receiving an endorsement from Donald Trump during a Save America Rally with former President Donald Trump at the Adams County Fairgrounds on June 25, 2022. (Michael B. Thomas / Getty Images)

Bailey, an ardent Trump supporter who has actively sought the former president’s endorsement as the capstone for success in a six-way GOP primary race, said he will work to have Illinois welcome a new White House bid by Trump in 2024.

“Here’s the deal. I will not lie to anyone and I will not let anything go unnoticed. And when I see it, I will name it,” Bailey said after Trump told the story of Bailey plucking a misplaced hair out of the former president’s head during pre-rally picture taking.

“We have our work cut out for us here in Illinois, friends,” Bailey said. “I’ve made a promise to President Trump that in 2024, Illinois will roll the red carpet out for him because Illinois will be ready for President Trump.”

Trump lost Illinois by 17% of the vote in his winning bid for the presidency in 2016 and his losing reelection run in 2020.

Trump, who has often delayed endorsements unless he was sure of a candidate’s victory, predicted Bailey would “win the primary very big and you’re going to go on and win the election.”

Bailey, a 2020 Trump presidential nominating delegate, comes from a downstate region of Illinois where voters have solidly supported the former president, and he has sought to cultivate their backing in his bid for governor as a base of support that has gradually grown across the state.

He’s also been the most demonstrably outspoken critic of Pritzker, starting with lawsuits — ultimately unsuccessful — that sought to block the Democratic governor’s pandemic mitigation orders while promoting an evangelical rural populist candidacy that decries the cultural policies of urban Chicago.

Bailey is in a field of candidates that includes Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, investor Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg, businessman Gary Rabine of Bull Valley, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo and Hazel Crest attorney Max Solomon.

Trump’s visit also was aimed at bolstering turnout for Miller, whose freshman term has been buffeted by controversy, in a contest against five-term Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in the newly drawn 15th Congressional District. The match up between Miller and Davis, an offshoot of Democratic redistricting following the 2020 Census, is the only one between Republican congressional incumbents in the state’s primary election on Tuesday.

Trump endorsed Miller on Jan. 1 and held a subsequent fundraiser for her at his Mar-a-Lago estate. But Davis has support from much of the local GOP establishment, including 31 of the district’s 35 county GOP chairmen as well as neighboring GOP Congressmen Darin LaHood of Peoria and Mike Bost of Murphysboro.

“With Mary, you get to elect a fearless America First Patriot,” Trump said. “She’s an incredible woman, somebody I’ve gotten to know very well. She’s been with me from day one. No bad back statements, you know, saying bad things about me two years ago, three years ago, one year ago,” Trump said, adding she is “a warrior for our movement.”

Going on to attack the two Republicans on the House select committee investigating Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol, the former president told the crowd, “If you want to send a message to (Wyoming U.S. Rep.) Liz Cheney, (Illinois) U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger and (Democratic U.S. House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and the fake news media, then this Tuesday you need to cast your vote for a truly wonderful person, Mary Miller.”

Miller said that “on behalf of the MAGA patriots in America,” she wanted to thank Trump “for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court” but did not elaborate on what she meant. A campaign spokesperson said after the rally that Miller meant to say “right to life” but misspoke.

U.S. Rep. Mary Miller’s ‘white life’ comment latest in a string of questionable comments. Read more here >>>

The court’s decision, Miller said, “would never have been possible if the Never-Trump RINOs had gotten their way,” — using the term to label Davis a “Republican In Name Only.”

After Trump’s speech, Davis predicted he’d win on Tuesday even as he sought to stress his support of the former president’s policies while in the White House.

“I’ve always said I’m proud of my conservative record of working with Trump when he was in office. Together we protected the unborn, defended the Second Amendment, cut taxes, secured our border, supported our police and farmers, and so much more,” Davis said in a statement.

MENDON – Supporters wait to enter prior to the Save America Rally at the Adams County Fairgrounds on June 25, 2022 in Mendon. Former President Donald Trump campaigned for U.S. Rep. Mary Miller for Congress and also endorsed Darren Bailey for Illinois governor. (Michael B. Thomas / Getty Images)

Trump sought to take credit for the appointment of three conservative justices during his presidency and their role in the 6-3 decision Friday that overturned the court’s 1973 ruling that gave women the right to seek an abortion without undue government interference.

“The court handed down a victory for the Constitution, a victory for the rule of law and above all, a victory for life,” Trump said. Citing generations of the anti-abortion movement as well as constitutional conservatives, “your boundless love, sacrifice and devotion has finally been rewarded in full.”

The crowd chanted, “Thank you, Trump.”

Trump, as is usual at his post-White House rallies, continued to try to push his unproven claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election while also attacking the House select committee’s investigation into his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Thousands of Trump supporters gathered inside and on the periphery of the fairgrounds, not far from the Mississippi River bluffs across from Missouri. Many sported red “Make America Great Again” hats, while some others wore shirts proclaiming “Jesus is my savior. Trump is my president” and “God, Guns and Trump.”

Clad in a shirt declaring he’s a “Free American,” Andres Rios, who said he grew up in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood before moving to Florida several years ago, maintained his belief in Trump’s unproven claims that his reelection was stolen due to widespread vote fraud, saying his belief was based on a cynical attitude toward Chicago politics.

“I just got tired of that stuff, you know?” Rios said.

Symbolizing the sway Trump still holds over Republican voters, Rhonda Goodwin of nearby Quincy, admitted to not knowing much about Miller’s two years in Congress but said the former president’s endorsement was good enough for her.

“Anybody Trump endorses is probably going to be the winner,” Goodwin said. “I didn’t do a whole lot of my own research. I figured his people have vetted her way more than I ever could and if he’s endorsing her, that’s all I need.”

Miller, who was born and raised in suburban Naperville, has aligned herself with the far-right extremes of the national GOP, a factor in winning Trump’s endorsement, and the former president and their allies were prominently featured at the rally.

MENDON – U.S. Representative Mary Miller from Illinois cheers with U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado during a Save America Rally with former U.S. President Donald Trump at the Adams County Fairgrounds on June 25, 2022. Trump stumped Miller of downstate Oakland in an Illinois congressional primary versus fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis. (Michael B. Thomas/Getty)

Freshman U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who voted against state Electoral College vote certification, and has criticized the Jan. 6 investigation, told the crowd, “My girlfriend, Mary Miller, is the bomb. Illinois, if you want a fighter, Mary is your girl.”

Boebert, like Miller an opponent to gun regulation, attempted to criticize Davis as a Republican in Name Only in calling herself a “professional political RINO-hunter,” but ended up instead delivering a criticism of her colleague, MiIller.

“Now if you really want someone who’s just going to go to Washington, D.C., and play these political games and eat fancy steak dinners — I heard the beef is better, in Illinois, is that right? It’s better here, than it is in D.C.? — you want Mary Miller,” Boebert told the crowd.

Pearson reported from Chicago and Gorner reported from Mendon.

rap30@aol.com

jgorner@chicagotribune.com

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Donald Trump endorses ‘fearless America First warrior’ Katie Britt in Alabama Senate race

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Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Katie Britt in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race, calling Sen. Richard Shelby’s former chief of staff “a fearless America First Warrior” in a statement Friday night.

“Katie is an Incredible Fighter for the people of Alabama,” Trump said. “As President and CEO of Alabama’s Business Council, Katie has been working hard to Grow Alabama’s Economy, Create Jobs, and Restore the Great American Dream. She has the Total Support and Endorsement of Chairman Jimmy Parnell and the Alabama Farmers Federation.”

“I’m thankful to have President Trump’s endorsement and strong support,” Britt said in a statement to AL.com.

“President Trump knows that Alabamians are sick and tired of failed, do-nothing career politicians. It’s time for the next generation of conservatives to step up and shake things up in Washington to save the country we know and love for our children and our children’s children. In the Senate, I will fight to defend Alabama’s Christian conservative values, advance the America First agenda, and preserve the American Dream for generations to come.”

Trump said Britt strongly supports “our under siege Second Amendment, stands up for parental rights, and will fight for our military, our vets, and election integrity.

“Above all, Katie Britt will never let you down. So Get Out and Vote for Katie Britt on June 21st in the Alabama Senate Runoff—she has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Trump continued.

Trump’s endorsement comes after he withdrew his backing of Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville in March, after claiming the conservative congressman became “woke” for telling a Trump rally last summer to move past the 2020 election.

“Last year I endorsed Mo Brooks for the U.S. Senate because I thought he was a Fighter, especially when it came to the Rigged and Stolen Presidential Election of 2020. The evidence is irrefutable. Then, out of nowhere, and for seemingly no reason, Mo backtracked and made a big mistake by going Woke at our massive Cullman, Alabama Rally.” Trump said. “Instead of denouncing the Voter Fraud in the Election, Mo lectured the crowd of 63,000 people saying, ‘Put that behind you, put that behind you,’ meaning that, in effect, forget the Rigged Election and go on to the future. The problem is, if you do that, it will happen again. Also, why do Republicans allow Democrats to get away with rigging and stealing elections? Mo was strongly booed by tens of thousands of Great Alabama Patriots for abandoning his constituents, and what they know to be true about the Election Fraud. He foolishly started listening to the wrong consultants and not to the people, and his 54-point lead evaporated overnight. Likewise, his words caused me to withdraw my Endorsement, and Mo has been wanting it back ever since—but I cannot give it to him!”

Britt squares off against Brooks in Alabama’s Republican primary runoff June 21. The winner faces Democrat Will Boyd in November to decide who will succeed the retiring Shelby.

Neither Britt nor Brooks could immediately be reached for comment.

As early as Wednesday night, Brooks pointed out that Trump had not endorsed his rival after Trump took back his endorsement of the congressman.

The race has been a battle over who most closely aligns with Trump’s agenda.

Brooks has portrayed Britt as being linked to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican establishment.

“Mitch McConnell’s team bragged openly — openly — that they had already spent $2 million attacking me and backed Katie Britt,” Brooks said on Election Day. “They’re not even trying to hide anymore like they normally do. Katie Britt is Mitch McConnell’s candidate and they want to make sure I’m never in the Senate. More than that, they want to tell Alabama conservatives who to vote for. Is this what we want?”

Britt, 40, has campaigned as a fresh face in contrast with Brooks’ 12 years in Washington.

“It is clear tonight that Alabamians want new blood. They want new blood to go to Washington, D.C. and shake it up” Britt said on Election Day. “It is clear they want a Christian conservative who believes in an America-first agenda and doesn’t just talk about it but knows how to actually get something done.”

Both Britt and former Army helicopter pilot Mike Durant — who did not make the runoff after coming in third place in the May 24 primary — had met with the former president after he walked back his Brooks endorsement as Trump mulled which candidate he would back, if any.

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Novavax Covid vaccine clears key step on path to FDA authorization after committee endorses the shot

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Novavax’s two-dose dose Covid-19 vaccine for adults ages 18 and older cleared a key step on the path toward Food and Drug Administration authorization on Tuesday.

The FDA’s committee of independent vaccine experts voted 21 to 0 with one abstention to recommend authorization of the shot for use in the U.S. after an all-day public meeting in which they weighed safety and effectiveness data. The FDA usually follows the committee’s recommendations, though it is not obligated to do so. The agency could clear Novavax’s vaccine for distribution in the U.S. as soon as this week.

The Centers for Disease Control Prevention would still need to sign off on the shots before pharmacies and other health-care providers can start administering them to people.

Novavax’s shot would be the fourth Covid vaccine authorized for use in the U.S. The Maryland biotech company’s shots are based on protein technology that’s been in use for decades in vaccines against hepatitis B and HPV. The technology differs from Pfizer and Moderna’s shots, which were the first ones using messenger RNA technology to receive FDA approval.

Dr. Peter Marks, who leads the FDA office responsible for reviewing vaccine safety and effectiveness, said Novavax’s vaccine would potentially appeal to people who have not gotten immunized yet because they would rather receive a shot that is not based on the mRNA technology used by Pfizer and Moderna. Though Johnson & Johnson’s shot is also available, the CDC has restricted its use due to a risk of blood clots primarily in women.

About 76% of adults ages 18 and older have already received two doses in the U.S., primarily with Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, according to data from the CDC. However, about 27 million adults in the U.S. have not received their first dose yet, according to Heather Scobie, an official on the CDC’s Covid emergency response team. Novavax executives believe their vaccine will appeal to some people in this group who are not against vaccination, but want an option that uses technology with a longer track record than mRNA.

Novavax’s vaccine was 90% effective at preventing illness from Covid across the board and 100% effective at preventing severe illness, according to the company’s clinical trial results from the U.S. and Mexico. However, the trial was conducted from December 2020 through September of 2021, months before the highly contagious omicron variant and its various sublineages became dominant in the U.S.

In briefing documents published ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, FDA officials said there is no data available on the effectiveness of the Novavax vaccine against omicron though the shots would likely still protect against severe illness from the variant. Novavax, like every Covid vaccine, was designed to target the original strain of the virus that first emerged in Wuhan, China in 2019. However, the virus has mutated dramatically over the past two years. The effectiveness of all the vaccines against mild illness from Covid has declined substantially as the virus has evolved.

“The study was conducted quite a while ago and said the cases that accrued were not during the time that omicron was circulating,” Dr. Lucia Lee, an official with the FDA’s division of vaccine research, said during her presentation to the committee.

Novavax’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Filip Dubovsky said data from the company’s adolescent study showed that two doses induced an immune response against omicron, though it was lower than against the Wuhan strain. A third dose boosted the immune response against omicron to levels comparable to the first two doses against the Wuhan strain, Dubovsky said. Novavax plans to ask the FDA to authorize a third dose if the agency clears the primary series for use in the U.S., he said.

“It’s factual that we don’t have efficacy data against omicron, what we do have is a technology that we think generates a broad immune response, demonstrated against a broad array of variants,” Dubosvky said. 

The most common side effects of Novavax’s shots were injection site pain, fatigue, headache and muscle pain, according to FDA briefing documents. However, FDA officials also raised a red flag that Novavax’s vaccine might be associated with a risk of heart inflammation as is the case with Pfizer and Moderna’s shots.

In a safety database of 40,000 Novavax vaccine recipients, four young men who ranged in age from 16 to 28 reported myocarditis or pericarditis within 20 days of receiving a shot, though one of them had a viral illness that could have caused the symptoms. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle and pericarditis is inflammation of the outer lining of the hear.

Lee said these cases were concerning because the patients reported their symptoms within days of receiving a Novavax shot, and there is already an established link between mRNA vaccination and heart inflammation among younger men. In the case of the mRNA shots, the CDC has found that the risk of myocarditis is higher from Covid infection than vaccination.

Novavax’s chief safety officer Dr. Denny Kim said the rates myocarditis were essentially the same between people who did and did not receive the vaccine in the clinical study, though it was slightly higher among people who received the shots.

 “We believe that the totality of the clinical evidence here is not enough to establish an overall causal relationship with the vaccine,” Kim told the committee. He said Novavax is monitoring for cases of heart inflammation in the accumulating data from its clinical trials and real-word use of the shots where they are already authorized.

Novava’x vaccine technology differs in a number of ways from Pfizer and Moderna’s shots. The latter rely on messenger RNA to turn human cells into factories that produce copies of Covid’s spike protein to induce an immune response that fights the virus. The spike is the part of the virus that latches onto and invades human cells.

Novavax produces copies of virus spike outside the human body. The genetic code for the spike is put into a baculovirus that infects moth cells, which then produce copies of the spike that are then purified and extracted. The spike copy, which can’t replicate or cause Covid, is injected into people inducing an immune response against the virus.

The vaccine also uses another ingredient called on adjuvant, which is an extract purified from the bark of a tree in South America, to induce a broader immune response against the virus. The shots consist of 5 micrograms of the spike copy and 50 micrograms of the adjuvant.

Novavax’s vaccine can also be stored at refrigerator temperatures, while Pfizer and Moderna’s shots require deep subzero cold.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Mich. GOP endorses Karamo, DePerno

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GRAND RAPIDS – The Michigan GOP party faithful Saturday supported two political outsiders backed by former President Donald Trump to serve as the state’s next chief elections officer and top law enforcement official. 

Following months of infighting over the future direction of the party, Republican convention delegates endorsed Oak Park educator Kristina Karamo for secretary of state, and Kalamazoo lawyer Matt DePerno defeated former state House Speaker Tom Leonard in a runoff for attorney general. 

Neither DePerno nor Karamo has held elected office previously, but the pair rose to national prominence following the 2020 election for their unfounded claims of widespread fraud and vote manipulation.

In addition to the support of the former president, DePerno and Karamo also secured the endorsement of Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock. Party leaders typically stay out of contested races. Maddock’s unusual intervention in the races angered some Republicans, including candidates who said they were promised by her that she would remain neutral. 

At a Trump rally in Macomb County for DePerno and Karamo, Maddock called on members of her party to “join together” and “lay down” their differences to unite behind the candidates endorsed at the convention. 

Following the convention, Maddock thanked Trump “for focusing on Michigan” and said that her party will unite behind his preferred candidates.

But the convention appeared to underscore divisions in the party after the attorney general’s race was forced to a bitter runoff between DePerno and Leonard.

Voters supporting both candidates faced off against one another on the convention floor ahead of the vote. DePerno supporters chanted, “Let’s go DePerno,” one sounded a siren on his megaphone and others clapped noisemakers bearing DePerno’s name. 

In the first round of voting, DePerno received 49% of the convention vote while Leonard received 40%. State Rep. Ryan Berman received 11% of the vote and quickly endorsed Leonard ahead of the runoff. 

Upon accepting her party’s endorsement, Karamo encouraged delegates to support DePerno in the runoff. Berman appeared to try to take the stage but was rebuffed after his loss and endorsement of Leonard.

In the runoff, DePerno secured 55% of the convention vote to Leonard’s 45%, according to machine totals set to be verified by a hand count.

Following the party’s announcement of DePerno’s victory, Leonard acknowledged his loss, saying the “race did not turn out the way we had hoped,” in a statement that expressed his gratitude for delegates who supported what he called his “positive, issue-focused campaign.”

Voting was still going on more than two hours after the convention was supposed to adjourn. Delegates said that this was the longest convention they could remember attending. At one point, the voting paused because of an error in the order of races that appeared on the screen to guide voting, which at first displayed the attorney general race as the last race when it was the first race on the ballot.

Michigan GOP spokesperson Gustavo Portela defended the convention process, saying that neither the DePerno nor Leonard campaigns expressed concerns about the mix-up and that the party does not believe any votes were affected.

More: Michigan appeals court rules against DePerno effort to revive debunked election fraud case

More: Michigan’s primary ballot may be ‘disaster’ for GOP candidates for governor, expert says

Karamo was seen as a clear front-runner in her race against Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry — the only candidate with experience as an elections administrator — and state Rep. Beau LaFave, R-Iron Mountain. On Saturday, she sailed to victory to receive her party’s endorsement, winning nearly 70% of the convention vote. Upon accepting her party’s endorsement, Karamo encouraged delegates to support DePerno in the runoff. Berman appeared to try to take the stage but was rebuffed.

Political observers expected a tight attorney general’s race and billed it as a test of Trump’s strength in the party. 

Candidates running against Trump’s picks argued that DePerno and Karamo face longer odds of victory in the fall than the other GOP candidates. Some Republicans have said that moderate and Democratic voters needed to win elections in the swing state will reject DePerno and Karamo as too extreme.

Beth Antor, a 54-year-old delegate from Sparta Township, said she was going to support DePerno and Karamo but wasn’t sure her two preferred candidates would gain the support of enough independent and Democratic voters.

“I have no idea what they’re going to do, but just the fact that the conservative grassroots base is waking up, I like that,” she said. 

“I don’t want somebody that meets in the middle. I don’t want to vote for that.”

Greg Ward, a 51-year-old delegate and Leonard supporter, expressed reservations about DePerno’s candidacy. 

“I understand this is a party convention, but he’s run negative and Trump forever and I don’t know that those are winning-ticket items come November,” he said.

DePerno might even struggle to win over some members of his own party. Jessica Nieto, a 37-year-old delegate from Taylor who supported Leonard, said she wasn’t sure she could vote for DePerno in November, calling his personal attacks “embarrassing” for her party. The attorney general’s race has been mainly defined by “one candidate’s mudslinging at another, that is ridiculous to me,” she said. 

State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, who spearheaded the GOP-led state Senate Oversight Committee investigation into the 2020 election that debunked claims the vote was rife with widespread fraud suggested that a DePerno and Karamo endorsement would put his party on a path toward defeat in the general election. 

Speaking outside the voting hall minutes before delegates began casting their ballots, he said that the endorsement of the two Trump-backed candidates would signal that “a majority of the people here would rather send a very strong message about what they want and the message they want to deliver to the party and to the nation, rather than winning the election in November.”

Michigan GOP Chairman Ron Weiser called those in his party who said that DePerno and Karamo cannot defeat the Democratic incumbents “poor losers.” 

He said that the party is going to “unite together” and “win this election this fall.”

The weekend GOP gathering in Grand Rapids marked the party’s first-ever endorsement convention. Republicans had hoped it would unite Republicans and boost the chosen candidates’ campaigns months before the midterm election. 

Some said that internal debate was inevitable. David Robbins, a 56-year-old alternate delegate at the convention, said that “in the end, the boxing match is with the Democrats in November.” 

“When you’re training for a boxing match, you have to spar, you have to sweat, you have to bleed,” he said.

The party will convene again in August for another convention in which GOP precinct delegates — the lowest-ranked elected Republicans who essentially constitute the party’s base — will officially nominate candidates for the November ballot. The August convention will include delegates newly elected during the primary.

Michigan is among only a handful of states that select nominees for major statewide offices at party conventions instead of in primary elections. Nominations for governor, congressional and state legislative seats will be made by voters in the Aug. 2 primary. 

DePerno secures GOP support after attorney general’s race sees vicious personal attacks

DePerno gained notoriety in 2020 when he represented an Antrim County resident in a lawsuit that served as a vehicle to advance conspiracies about electronic voting machines used to tabulate ballots. Antrim County, a rural GOP stronghold, was the site of a clerical error that briefly led to an inaccurate report of unofficial election night results. The Michigan Court of Claims Thursday upheld a trial court’s ruling dismissing DePerno’s lawsuit. DePerno has vowed to appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.

Trump won Antrim County, and a hand count of the ballots there affirmed that the voting machines accurately tabulated the results. 

But Trump seized on a debunked report filed in support of DePerno’s lawsuit to falsely claim that the election was stolen from him. He cited the report extensively in a draft executive order to order the military to seize voting machines that was never issued. 

On the campaign trail, DePerno repeatedly attacked Leonard as an establishment Republican and sought Leonard’s firing from his private law job, suggesting that his opponent had access to privileged information DePerno provided as a client of the firm where Leonard works.

In the letter to Leonard’s employer, DePerno said he retained the law firm in response to an investigation by the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission related to his lawsuit in Antrim County. The commission has the authority to initiate disciplinary proceedings that can revoke Michigan lawyers’ licenses to practice in the state. 

A comprehensive report on the 2020 election by the GOP-led state Senate Oversight Committee also called on the attorney general’s office to investigate “those who have been utilizing misleading and false information about Antrim County to raise money or publicity for their own ends.” Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office subsequently launched an investigation. Nessel has identified DePerno as a potential target of the investigation but said that her office set up a firewall preventing her participation in the probe against her political opponent. 

DePerno has repeatedly pledged to investigate and charge Nessel, along with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. He has suggested Michigan’s three highest ranking Democrats have all committed misconduct. Berman and Leonard have blasted his statements as unethical. 

But the candidates found agreement on other issues on the campaign trail.

All three called for the end of the Whitmer administration’s legal efforts to shut down Line 5 to prevent a spill or leak of the dual gas and oil pipeline into the Great Lakes. And the three also touted themselves as opponents of abortion rights, a potentially key issue in the event the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the 1973 landmark decision Roe v. Wade.

The decision nullified a 1931 Michigan law that makes performing almost any abortion a felony. Leonard was the only candidate in the race who said he would enforce the law but not prosecute pregnant people who seek an abortion. 

Karamo receives overwhelming support among Republicans

Candidates running against Karamo argued that she faces long odds of victory in the November election, expecting moderate and Democratic voters to reject her. 

But Karamo received overwhelming support among GOP convention delegates to take on current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who has characterized the contest as a battle for the future of democracy. 

In 2020, Karamo joined legal efforts to delay the certification of the election and overturn the results.

Right-wing media embraced her as an election fraud “whistleblower” for her unfounded claims that she witnessed fraud and misconduct in Detroit where she worked as an election challenger observing the absentee ballot count.

“I’ve got a big mouth,” Karamo said ahead of the convention when asked how she caught the attention of the former president. 

Trump endorsed her last fall and held a rally in Michigan before the endorsement convention encouraging Republicans to support her and DePerno. Appearing alongside Trump, Karamo thanked him for his support and said he “pulled the scales off of so many people’s eyes about (how) there’s a cabal of people in leadership bent on destroying our country,” using language evocative of the QAnon conspiracy that a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles run the U.S.

During the campaign, LaFave nicknamed his opponent “QAnon Karamo” and pointed to a conference in Las Vegas with connections to the QAnon movement that Karamo spoke at last fall. Karamo’s campaign told Bridge Michigan ahead of that gathering that she “does not and never has supported QAnon.” 

She is part of a group of so-called “America First” secretary of state candidates whose campaigns have peddled misinformation and conspiracies about the 2020 presidential election. She said at the Oakland County GOP convention held a week before the state party convention that the coalition “is just to return the rule of law” and “citizen oversight to the election system.” 

Even though the group is made up of GOP candidates, she said that “everybody should be excited” about the group’s focus on election security, which she called a voting rights issue. “It’s to benefit all people. It’s not to benefit Republicans, it’s to benefit the republic,” she said. 

She said that while the Michigan secretary of state’s race is a partisan election, the “office is not partisan” and said her campaign has focused on gaining the support of independent and “soft” Democratic voters. 

Speaking about the Michigan GOP’s own election procedures, she heralded her party’s decision to pair a machine count of ballots at the convention with a hand count. She said that there are “some legitimate concerns” with electronic voting systems despite no evidence to support claims that surfaced in the wake of the 2020 election that voting tabulators incorrectly read ballots. 

Karamo said that the use of a hand count for the first time at a Michigan GOP convention would help unify Republicans.

If officially nominated at the party’s fall convention, she will be the first Black woman Republicans back for one of the top three statewide offices.

Board of Education and university board races

GOP convention delegates also endorsed candidates for State Board of Education and university boards. 

The state Supreme Court race was uncontested with incumbent Justice Brian Zahra running for reelection and lawyer Paul Hudson vying for the second open seat on the court. 

For the State Board of Education, the party backed Tami Carlone and Linda Lee Tarver. Democrats hold a majority on the eight-member board that currently has only two Republican members. Democrats currently hold the two seats that are up for reelection. Carlone is the coalitions vice chair for the Michigan GOP. She previously ran for the State Board of Education in 2020 and lost. Tarver is a former Michigan Department of State employee who participated in legal efforts to delay the certification of the 2020 presidential election.  

The party also endorsed Christa Murphy and Craig Wilsher for the Wayne State University Board of Governors. Democrats hold the two seats that are up for reelection. For the University of Michigan Board of Regents, the party supported Lena Epstein and Sevag Vartanian against two incumbent Democrats running for reelection. Finally, the Michigan State University Board of Trustees race saw Mike Balow and Travis Menge receive the backing of the Michigan GOP.

Staff writer Dave Boucher contributed to this report. 

Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.



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