Michigan GOP votes to oust its chairwoman, saying they 'made history'

A group of Michigan Republicans on Saturday voted to oust the party's chairwoman Kristina Karamo, despite her saying she won't recognize their meeting. 

According to The Detroit News, 88% of those participating in the meeting supported the unseating of Karamo who has been in leadership since last year. 

"We have made history today," a member of the Michigan Republican Party's state committee, Bree Moeggenberg, said in a statement obtained by the outlet. "With over 88% of the members that were present and voting, we have taken the first step to engage and protect the various voices and liberties of all Republicans." 

Multiple GOP members reportedly protested the meeting outside where the vote was being taken and some even called it illegitimate.

According to local media, Karamo and members of the state committee had internal disagreements over finances.

Karamo told The Detroit News that the meeting the members of the committee had to oust her wasn't legitimate. 

"These individuals have not followed the MIGOP bylaws to call a meeting, change bylaws or remove any member," she said. "They have zero legal authority to conduct business regarding the Michigan Republican Party or its state committee."

She said that the vote had no standing and she was still chairwoman. 

A Michigan-based political consultant, Dennis Lennox, said this could all be up to Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.

"If the RNC under Michigan's own Ronna McDaniel wants to act, they will," Lennox posted on social media. "It's that simple. RNC can do whatever it wants. At the end of the day, it's a private club."

The Michigan GOP said that the meeting was legitimate the night before the vote was taken.

"The Michigan Republican Party has declared tomorrow’s Jan. 6 gathering, organized by a faction of the state committee, to be unauthorized and out of compliance with the party’s bylaws," the Michigan Republican Party wrote in a statement. 

GOP Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon referred to the state party as being "misguided."

"The proposal today is another example of a misguided party that is attempting to force unnecessary procedural change, rather than bringing attention to Joe Biden's catastrophic failures and the long-term damage Gretchen Whitmer has done to our state," she wrote on X.

Karamo did not respond to Just the News for comment.