Gretchen Whitmer says Trump maintains hold on Michigan Republicans
Rachel Schilke
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) said Michigan Republicans have long been influenced by former President Donald Trump and his allies, which she believes is likely to continue into the 2024 presidential election.
“In Michigan, Republican Party politics for a long time has been controlled by the DeVos family, the Betsy DeVos family,” Whitmer said. “And in this last round, where they were nominating their attorney general, secretary of state, the DeVos candidates lost to the Trump candidates.”
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“We now have a Republican chair here in Michigan, Kristina Karamo, who is as Trumpian, I think, as it gets,” the governor added.
Kristina Karamo, a far-right election denier, became chairwoman of the Michigan GOP in late February, underscoring a deep divide within the party among those who spread claims of election fraud and other members who are hoping to move on.
She ran on a platform of turning “the corrupt and ineffective” party into a “high-efficiency electing” one and eliminating the “co-conspirator relationship” with Democrats, according to her vision statement.
Karamo has yet to concede her 14-point loss in 2022 for secretary of state. She, like many other extreme right candidates, ran with an endorsement from Trump but ultimately lost their races. Several Trump candidates in key battleground states like Arizona, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are seeking to reenter the political arena in 2024.
If the Republican primary was held tomorrow, Whitmer said she thinks Trump would still maintain a hold on Republicans in Michigan.
Whitmer did not provide many details regarding a presidential run in 2024, saying that she never thought she would run for office again after leaving the legislature.
“Here I am in my fifth year as governor of the state. I know enough about myself that if I see a problem that’s not getting fixed, [and] I think I can do something about it, I’m going to roll up my sleeves and try,” she said.
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Whitmer, 51, highlighted her age, saying she’ll be 55 by the end of her term as governor. She said her mom died at age 59.
“I am not super focused on that or worried about it, but it is in the back of my head. That, no one knows how long we’re going to be on this earth,” Whitmer said. “And I’m really lucky to be where I’m at right now. And there’s no other place I’d rather be in this moment.”