Trump dominates GOP convention in Michigan amid party unrest

Former President Donald J. Trump cut off a clean sweep of Republican delegates in Michigan during a raucous convention on Saturday, further exposing a deep rift in the state party that threatens to fester in one of its key battleground states.

Mr. Trump, the Republican front-runner, collected at least 90 percent of the vote in all but one of the state’s 13 congressional districts, against former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations under Mr. Trump.

A simple majority was needed in each district to win its share of delegates during the caucus-like event, giving Trump 39, matching the 12 he won during the Michigan primary, held on Tuesday. Ms. Haley came out of that competition with four delegates.

Trump’s dominance earlier this week left little doubt about the outcome of Saturday’s convention at the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But a protracted battle over the state party’s rightful leader spilled over into the proceedings, with an estimated 200 Republican supporters from about 20 of Michigan’s 83 counties stripped of their credentials. Two groups boycotted the event and held segregated conventions, one more than 100 miles north in Houghton Lake, Michigan, and another more than 50 miles to the southeast in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Many of those denied credentials were people associated with Kristina Karamo, whom party leaders voted to oust as state party chair in January. They replaced her with Pete Hoekstra, a former US representative who served as Trump’s ambassador to the Netherlands.

Not all of Ms. Karamo’s donors were left out Saturday: A group from Saginaw County cheered and made thumbs-down gestures as Mr. Hoekstra spoke. He acknowledged the friction.

“It could be a little insulting,” Mr. Hoekstra told delegates at one of the caucuses, which took place in a ballroom filled with a chandelier and a portrait of President Gerald R. Ford, an old-guard Republican who grew up in Grand Rapids.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Hoekstra denied that the rejection was an act of retaliation, saying those who rejected had not properly registered for the convention.

Ernest Dugan, a Saginaw County delegate and supporter of Ms. Karamo, said he was disgusted by the actions of party leaders, who criticized her over money problems in the party and governance issues.

“It all stinks too high, you know where,” Mr. Dugan said.

As a black Republican, he said he was concerned about the message the party was sending with the ouster of Ms. Karamo, who is black.

“A person of color wants to be part of your group,” he said, adding, “Then you kick her to the curb?”

Until Friday, it appeared that a rival convention, planned months ago by Ms. Karamo, might compete with the one organized by Mr. Hoekstra in Grand Rapids and recognized by the Republican National Committee. But after a series of court defeats challenging her removal as party chairman, Ms. Karamo scuppered her plans to hold the event in Detroit.

“We need to be united around Hoekstra,” said Jay A. Fedewa, chairman of the Genesee County Republican Party. “It’s disheartening that they don’t want to do that.”

Mr. Trump, whose victory in Michigan in the 2016 election propelled him to the presidency and who later lost the state to Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020, has recognized Mr. Hoekstra as chairman during the power struggle.

Debra Ell, a party leader from Saginaw County, divided her loyalties between Ms. Karamo and the former president.

“Honestly, we love almost everyone — we love Trump, by the way — but everyone who supported Trump in Michigan didn’t win,” said Ms. Ell, who wore a pin with Ms. Karamo’s photo on it. “So bless his heart. We love him, but stay out of our politics.”

At the convention, where one delegate suffered cardiac arrest, Trump performed better on Tuesday than his performance during the primaries. Mr. Hoekstra attributed the former president’s victory to the fact that the trial was limited to Republicans. Michigan primaries are open to all voters, regardless of party affiliation.

“These people are focused on winning in November,” he said. “Right? Don’t fight other Republicans.”

Yet a woman lingered nearby with a sign reading ‘Hoekstra is a cheater’.

At the segregated meeting in Houghton Lake, about 300 Republicans boycotting the Grand Rapids convention held their own vote to allocate delegates, a move that Hoekstra and the RNC say won’t count. All votes went to Mr. Trump.

Daire Rendon, a former state representative facing felony charges in connection with a voting machine breach after the 2020 election — one aimed at overturning Trump’s defeat in Michigan — chaired the meeting. She wore a blue Trump cap with a Q pin — for the QAnon conspiracy movement — on it.

“This will have no impact on the national election,” Ms Rendon said. “But what it does is impact the party here in our state because what we’ve done is gone back to the party of the old white boys when we had a new grassroots party led by Kristina Karamo, who brought the younger, dynamic version of a rebirth of the Republican Party, one that embraces a set of values ​​that the Republican Party has always stood for.”

The breakaway group then held what amounted to an opinion poll and asked Ms. Karamo’s supporters to stand up. They did the same for Mr Hoekstra; no one stood in front of him.

“We have a unanimous vote,” Ms. Rendon said.