Two candidates who were endorsed by Donald Trump won Michigan Republicans’ backing for attorney general and secretary of state at a convention Saturday, clearing their path to face Democratic incumbents in the fall.
The meeting of thousands of delegates was a test of Trump’s clout in the party.
His allies – attorney general candidate Matthew DePerno, a lawyer, and secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo, a community college instructor – emerged victorious from three-person fields at the 10-hour “endorsement” convention in downtown Grand Rapids.
The political newcomers support Trump’s false claims about his 2020 loss in the swing state. They will be officially nominated at a second convention in August and challenge Democratic attorney general Dana Nessel and secretary of state Jocelyn Benson in November.
Karamo won handily with two-thirds of the vote. DePerno was just shy of the majority needed in an initial vote. But he won a runoff over former legislative leader Tom Leonard that was paused and later restarted after the ballot order of races did not match what was shown on screens flanking the stage.
Trump has said his preferred candidates would not let Michigan be “stolen” in the next presidential election. He lost the state by 154,000 votes to Joe Biden. Trump’s slate drew criticism, however, within a wing of the GOP that views the candidates as unelectable in the fall and was frustrated that party leaders openly backed them rather than be neutral.
DePerno’s main rival for the nomination was Leonard, the party’s 2018 attorney general nominee whom Trump later nominated for US attorney in western Michigan. State representative Ryan Berman, who finished third, urged his supporters to back Leonard in the runoff.
Bernadette Smith, one of the party’s vice chairs, said DePerno “is the only candidate who will fight for election integrity”. As DePerno’s supporters walked to the front of the hall to demonstrate their support, a video played of Trump touting DePerno and calling Leonard a “RINO” – or Republican in name only.
DePerno unsuccessfully sued after human error led rural Antrim County to erroneously show a local victory for Biden over Trump. It was quickly corrected but was used to spread misinformation about voting equipment.
He may face repercussions over the Antrim lawsuit. DePerno recently confirmed that the state’s Attorney Grievance Commission is investigating him.
Nessel last year began a separate probe after a Republican-led legislative committee said people were making baseless allegations about the results in Antrim to raise money or publicity for their own ends. The panel’s report did not specify whom should be investigated, but the people mentioned in it include DePerno.
In the secretary of state’s race, Karamo defeated state representative Beau LaFave and Chesterfield Township clerk Cindy Berry.
“We’re going to make sure that our election results is something that everyone can be confident in,” Karamo said.
In a sign of how pervasive election falsehoods have become, the party used machines to tabulate votes but, in a change, also hand-counted the ballots in a compromise with activists.
Nominees for Michigan’s statewide races are chosen at conventions except in gubernatorial and US Senate primaries. The midterm election climate is expected to favor Republicans, but incumbent attorney generals and secretaries of state rarely lose.
The state Democratic Party said Republicans should be “ashamed” of its endorsed candidates. Party chair Lavora Barnes called Karamo a “fear-spreading, inexperienced extremist” and said DePerno is a Trump “lackey” willing to protect the former president but not all Michiganders.