(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/31/2024)Kathy Berden will not be running for reelection as Michigan’s Republican National Committeewoman.
Committeeman Rob Steele is running again, challenged by former gubernatorial candidate Ralph Rebandt.
The developments come as the Michigan Republican Party (MRP) and its delegates look to elect new representatives to the Republican National Committee (RNC) for the 2024 presidential election cycle at the March 2 presidential delegate selection process March 2. The Committeeman and Committeewoman posts for the Republicans are four-year unpaid positions.
Berden said she’s enjoyed serving since 2015, but it’s time for someone else to have a chance.
She said she will be sending a proxy to the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee due to her involvement in the attorney general’s prosecution against her and nine other Republicans for allegedly participating as alternative electors for former President Donald Trump in 2020.
Berden didn’t take a stance on which disputed Michigan Republican Party chair she recognizes as the leader. Both Kristina Karamo and former U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Pete Hoekstra claim their authority to the party.
Each state’s Republican party chair serves on the RNC alongside a committeewoman and committeeman. If onlookers were hoping that the RNC would lay the party chair dispute to rest by stating who they would credential to represent Michigan in Las Vegas, they’ll have to wait a little longer, since Karamo’s image has been removed from the RNC’s website and neither Karamo nor Hoekstra will be credentialed for the event.
Sixth Congressional District Chair Hima Kolanagireddy, Ethnic Vice Chair Bernadette Smith and former Civil Rights Commissioner Linda Lee Tarver are running to replace Berden in the election at the March 2 state party convention.
Kolanagireddy, who is Indian-American, said the party is lacking in ethnic outreach. The party calls out to voters that already view themselves as Republicans, but there needs to be a plan to make supporters out of groups like immigrants, she said.
Of the six vice chairs, three are Arab-American and one is Black. Karamo is also Black and Kolanagireddy said the diversity should have been a larger part of Karamo’s leadership.
“I would have put it on a billboard and said, ‘The Party of Rich White Men,’” she said. “(She) absolutely failed in promoting that because you do not like to include other religions in our party.”
She was referring to Karamo’s promotion of the party as the party of Christians. Kolanagireddy said she herself is a Christian, but that it shouldn’t matter for a political party.
Kolanagireddy said based on what she’s seen, the Jan. 6 meeting that removed Karamo was legitimate, and Trump’s endorsement of Hoekstra solidified her support of new leadership.
Karamo has argued that Trump and the RNC’s opinion are irrelevant, since they don’t vote at the state party’s convention, but the delegates in the state do.
She’s hosted a series of question-and-answer sessions throughout the state to connect with precinct delegates and even started a podcast recently to address the reasons precinct delegates reach out to her. Her Good Neighbor Program, that is meant to rally more Republican voters, is focused on the work that precinct delegates can do in their communities.
Kolanagireddy said when Karamo ran last spring, she supported her despite not having Trump’s endorsement, but his endorsement this time around carries weight.
“I’m happy that there’s a new chair that Trump recognizes. That matters to me. Like it or not, he’s the leader of the party, and people just have to accept that,” Kolanagireddy said. “It’s an organization top-down. We have dotted-line reporting, state parties do report into RNC, district parties do report into state parties, county parties do report into district parties.”
The chair dispute raises questions about how the state convention on March 2 will run.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Kolanagireddy said.
Smith has the support of General Michael Flynn, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, former National Committeeman Dave Agema, former National Committeeman Chuck Yob, former Rep. Tom Hooker, 2nd District Chair Andy Sebolt and former MRP Chair candidate Lena Epstein, among others.
“Let's not blame a person,” Smith said in a re-recorded message. “Let's focus on making the system effective for the people. We can all unite around changing the system that has not effectively worked for ‘We the People.’"
Berden said she knows Tarver the best, but didn’t have a formal endorsement.
Tarver said supporting U.S. Senate candidates and the Republican presidential nominee are her priorities as a potential committeewoman. Other issues include border security, abortion and the economy.
Tarver, a Black woman, said she wants to be an advocate for Black Republicans in the RNC. Since she doesn’t serve on the MRP state committee, she didn’t comment on who she recognizes as state party chair.
Rebandt is running against Steele to be committeeman, and Tarver said either individual would be a victory for the party.
Rebandt said he doesn’t want the election to be “Ralph versus Rob,” but since several conservative delegates asked him to run, he decided he ought to.
“Republicans keep giving up yardage. I’ll use football language. We’re giving up yardage all the time, and we are working to restore that,” Rebandt said.
Michigan’s rank in education and border security are priorities for Rebandt, who serves as the chaplain of the Michigan Chiefs of Police.
Rebandt said he’s not convinced the Jan. 6 meeting followed party bylaws, and because of that, he recognizes Karamo as chair. He also agrees with Karamo’s argument on how she derives her authority from the bottom rather than the top.
“It’s the precinct delegates that have the final say in everything. As a Republican National Committeeman I would be representing them,” he said.
He said he’s not sure all of the details have been conveyed to Trump or the RNC to give authority to their opinions.
Of the three candidates for committeewoman, Rebandt said he’d be happy to work with any of them.
Steele is running again and has held the seat since 2016. He’s endorsed by conservative legal activist Harmeet Dhillon, conservative activist Charlie Kirk and Turning Point Action.
“I came onto the Republican National Committee with President Trump, and had he been certified the winner in 2020, I would not be running now. With all the people I have gotten to know in his campaign and organization, it is time to finish the job and finally put America First,” he told MIRS.
