Michigan Republican Party

The state Bureau of Elections is continuing its probe into whether money paid by the Michigan Republican Party to former Secretary of State candidate Stan Grot violated campaign finance laws.  

Jack Rollow, spokesman for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, confirmed Thursday that the investigation would continue despite the Michigan Republican Party earlier this week withdrawing a letter sent last week to the Bureau by then-party chair Laura Cox.

Cox's February 4 letter triggered the investigation.

The Michigan Republican Party convention is Saturday. The top job in the party just became a public brawl. 

The current chair of the state Republican Party is Laura Cox. She was not planning to run for re-election. But then, as first reported by the Detroit News, she made allegations of financial impropriety against the man expected to be the next chair of the state party, Ron Weiser, a Regent of University of Michigan.

Former ambassador, Ron Weiser, has emerged as the presumptive next chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

That’s after current chair Laura Cox decided not to seek another term.

Weiser is a wealthy businessman who has served in the role twice before – from 2009 to 2011 and from 2017 to 2019.

Republicans are stepping up their efforts to defeat two Democratic congresswomen who won formerly GOP-held seats in 2018.

Under brilliant sunshine Tuesday morning, dozens of sign-waving Michigan Republicans gathered outside Congresswoman Haley Stevens Livonia office to rally against the one term Democrat.    

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan says he is leaving the Republican Party because he has become disenchanted with partisan politics.

Justin Amash is the Congressman from Michigan's 3rd district. When President Gerald Ford was a member of the U.S. House, he represented Michigan's 5th district. District boundaries evolve over time, but both claimed Grand Rapids as their population center, so it's fair to say Amash is a Ford successor.

Fresh off statewide defeats in 2018, Michigan’s Republican Party picked new leadership Saturday.

“Are you ready to win in 2020!” National Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney-McDaniel said as she rallied the state GOP convention in Lansing.

The party needs rallying after losing races for governor, attorney general, and secretary of state in 2018. Republicans held onto control of the state Senate and House but by slimmer margins.

Thursday night’s Republican governor’s debate saw Attorney General Bill Schuette touting his ties to President Trump, Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley focusing on his record with Gov. Snyder, State Senator Patrick Colbeck playing up his conservative credentials, and Dr. Jim Hines playing the role of non-politician outsider in the race.

Vice President Mike Pence will be in Michigan Friday. 

He’s helping to raise money for one of the Republicans running for governor.

Pence is the key note speaker at a noon hour fundraiser for Attorney General Bill Schuette’s gubernatorial campaign at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham.

President Trump’s Saturday night speech in northern Macomb County became the latest skirmish in Michigan’s Republican race for governor.

During his speech, President Trump made it clear who he supports in Michigan’s governor’s race.

“We’re honored to be joined by a great friend of mine and a great Attorney general, the next governor of Michigan, Bill Schuette,” Trump told the cheering crowd packed into the Total Sports Park indoor soccer field.

President Trump spent Saturday night rallying his supporters in Michigan.

The president told his Macomb County audience he had another invitation for Saturday night.

“You may have heard I was invited to another event tonight. The White House Correspondents Dinner,” Trump told the crowd, which began booing. “But I’d much rather be in Washington, Michigan than Washington, D.C. right now.”

The president talked about a wide range of topics, from de-nuclearization on the Korean Peninsula to Michigan’s auto industry.

This year, TV ad spending is spiking early among candidates running for Michigan governor.

The Michigan Campaign Finance Network reports $1.7 million has been spent on TV ads to promote candidates in Michigan’s governor’s race. 

The network’s Craig Mauger says most of that spending was by Democrat Shri Thanedar, who’s poured $1.2 million into TV campaign ads since the January 1.

EAST LANSING, Mich.- Brian Breslin will not seek re-election this year as a Michigan State University trustee.

Sarah Anderson, spokeswoman for the Michigan Republican Party, says Breslin has informed party officials. Voters choose candidates who are nominated by political parties.

  Breslin is chairman of the MSU Board of Trustees. He has expressed support for President Lou Anna Simon during the controversy over Larry Nassar, who sexually assaulted girls while he was an MSU sports doctor.

The 2018 U.S. Senate race got a shake-up Wednesday, but not because someone was entering the race. Instead, the shake-up came from Republican Bob Young's decision to step down as a candidate. 

Vice President Mike Pence will try to rally support in Michigan tomorrow for the new Republican tax reform plan. He’ll speak Thursday afternoon at American Axle Manufacturing in Auburn Hills.

The plan unveiled this week almost doubles the standard deduction for married taxpayers filing jointly to $24,000. Individual filers will see their standard deduction increase to $12,000.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel hosted a roundtable discussion with African-American community leaders in Detroit on Monday.

McDaniel opened with a swift condemnation of white supremacy after the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia Saturday.

“As chairman of the Republican party, I want to be perfectly clear,” McDaniel said. “That white supremacy, Neo-Nazi, KKK, and hate speech and bigotry is not welcome, and does not have a home in the Republican Party.”

State Republicans and Democrats are sparring over a proposal to keep some key Affordable Care Act provisions in place in Michigan, even if Congress succeeds in repealing Obamacare.