(Source: MIRS.news, Published 03/11/2025) The Michigan Republican Party (MRP) is grappling with $600,000 in debt after the last campaign cycle, and newly elected Chair Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) is in Washington D.C. this week in an attempt to erase it. 

It's not uncommon for the MRP to end an election cycle with debt, three sources within the MRP told MIRS. Typically, the party takes out a line of credit in the closing days of the previous year's campaign that can be hard to pay off by the following February, when the new chair is elected. 

In prior years, former Chairs Betsy DeVos and Ron Weiser would take care of the debt on their own and hand over the party's reins to someone with a clean slate. That wasn't possible this go-round, with former Chair Pete Hoekstra saddled with debt and chaos after Kristina Karamo was kicked out of the job. 

Hoekstra confirmed that he was aware of the problem he inherited from Karamo. He said he got the deficit down, the party was fully aware of the small debt and there was no attempt to hide it. 

For example, the line of credit the MRP had with Comerica was trimmed significantly to around $400,000 by the time Runestad took over. But with staff salaries and the cost of the February convention, the final total crept up to $600,000, something the new chair didn't know about until recently. 

MIRS has learned the transition to Runestad has been cordial, and that former executive director Paul Cordes is helping Runestad make the connections in Washington D.C. needed to be successful. 

Runestad is staying upbeat about the situation and is confident he can erase the red ink sooner than later.