GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Two candidates backed by former President Donald Trump won Michigan Republicans’ endorsements for attorney general and secretary of state at a convention Saturday, opening the way for them to face off. to incumbent Democrats in the fall.
The gathering of thousands of delegates was proof of Trump’s influence in the party.
His allies, attorney general candidate Matthew DePerno, an attorney, and secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo, a community college instructor, emerged victorious from three-person camps at the “endorsement” convention in downtown Grand Rapids. .
Newcomers to politics 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 will challenge Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in November.
Karamo, a community college instructor, won handily. DePerno, a lawyer, fell just short of the necessary majority in an early vote but won a runoff over Tom Leonard that was stopped because of an incorrectly ordered ballot. It was not immediately clear if Leonard would dispute the result.
Winners of the “endorsement” convention should have a clear path to being officially nominated at a second convention in August and facing Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in November.
Trump has said that his preferred candidates would not let Michigan be “robbed” in the upcoming presidential election. He lost the state by 154,000 votes to Joe Biden. However, Trump’s list has drawn criticism within a wing of the GOP that views the candidates as ineligible in the fall and is frustrated that state party leaders have openly endorsed them rather than being neutral.
DePerno’s main rival for the nomination was Leonard, a former legislative leader and the party’s 2018 candidate, whom Trump later nominated for US attorney in West Michigan. State Rep. Ryan Berman, who finished third, urged his supporters to back Leonard in the Leonard-DePerno runoff.
Earlier, Bernadette Smith, one of the party’s vice presidents, told the crowd that DePerno “is the only candidate who will fight for electoral integrity.” As DePerno supporters walked to the front of the room to show their support, a video played of Trump promoting DePerno and calling Leonard “RINO,” or Republican in name only.
DePerno unsuccessfully sued after human error led rural County Antrim to wrongly show a local victory for Biden over Trump. Quickly fixed, but used to spread misinformation about voting teams.
DePerno was “in the field working when no one else was,” Smith said.
Republican United States Representative Jack Bergman urged delegates to support Leonard.
“Mark my words: Democrats are motivated and we will only win if we field our best candidates,” he said. “I truly believe that he is the only candidate in this race with the integrity, courage, determination and the skills to not only win in November, but to serve as attorney general from day one.”
In the race for secretary of state, Karamo defeated state Rep. Beau LaFave and Chesterfield Town Clerk Cindy Berry after getting about two-thirds of the vote.
In a sign of how pervasive electoral falsehoods have become, the party used machines to tabulate votes but, in a change, also hand-counted ballots in a compromise with activists.
Nominees for Michigan state races are chosen at the party’s conventions, except for the gubernatorial and US Senate primaries. The midterm climate is expected to favor Republicans, but sitting attorneys general and secretaries of state rarely lose.
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