Two GOP election deniers who were soundly defeated in the 2022 midterms are the top candidates to lead Michigan’s Republican Party

• Two 2020 election deniers are the top candidates to lead the Michigan GOP headed into 2024.
• Matt DePerno and Kristina Karamo lost races for AG and secretary of state, respectively, in 2022.
• The party has over $2.3 million in outstanding debts in its state campaign coffers, per Bridge Michigan.

The November 2022 midterms were not kind to Michigan Republicans.

Not only was Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reelected in a landslide over Republican Tudor Dixon, but state Attorney General Dana Nessel soundly defeated GOP opponent Matt DePerno and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson easily dispatched Republican Kristina Karamo. And Democrats reclaimed control of both houses of the state legislature, with the state Senate in Democratic hands for the first time since 1984.

But DePerno and Karamo, who repeatedly questioned the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, are seen as the frontrunners to lead the Michigan Republican Party, according to Bridge Michigan.

The state party on Saturday will decide on a leader to replace outgoing chair Ron Weiser.

Weiser, a prominent real estate developer, gave the party over $3.2 million in personal contributions for the 2022 election cycle, per Bridge Michigan. But the outlet also reported that the state GOP had over $2.3 million in outstanding debts in its main state campaign account.

DePerno and Karamo, who were both backed by former President Donald Trump in their respective campaigns last year, sought to funnel GOP outrage over the 2020 election into statewide victories, but they fell far short of that goal; DePermo lost to Nessel by nearly 9 points, while Karamo lost to Benson by 14 points.

And Trump, who continues to wield enormous influence among grassroots activists as he begins to ramp up his third presidential campaign, last month threw his support behind DePerno.

“Republicans in Michigan must unite and work together if they want to save Michigan,” the former president said in a statement at the time. “We must start by supporting Matt DePerno for chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. He is the only candidate running who can get the job done!”

Both DePerno and Karamo are seeking to more closely tie grassroots conservatives to its GOP donor base.

On Monday, Trump rallied for DePerno virtually and stressed the importance of Michigan, a swing state that in 2016 narrowly supported him over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before now-President Joe Biden flipped it back to the Democrats in 2020.

“Michigan will be a key battleground center for the action,” Trump said of the presidential election next year. “Victory in Michigan will be the difference in winning the election or not.”

Key to Biden’s victory in Michigan was his strength not only in cities like Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, and Grand Rapids, but the margins that he amassed in suburban communities in Southeast Michigan.