GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Michigan Court of Appeals is being urged to step into a dispute over leadership of the state Republican Party.
Lawyers for Kristina Karamo asked the court Wednesday to throw out a decision by a Kent County judge, who said a January vote to oust her was valid.
Judge Joseph Rossi said Tuesday that any actions by Karamo since Jan. 6 are "void and have no effect."
"The order has injected more chaos into the political process," Karamo's lawyers said of Rossi's injunction. "The order will require a complete change of party administration, as well as cancellation or attempted cancellations of leases, contracts and other legal obligations, leaving the (party) in further disarray."
Karamo wants the appeals court to make a ruling by Friday, a day before she had planned to hold a major meeting in Detroit to select presidential delegates for the party's national convention.
But former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, with backing from the national party and former President Donald Trump, now is recognized as chair of the Michigan Republican Party. He is scheduled to lead a similar meeting Saturday across the state in Grand Rapids.
An email seeking comment from the party on the latest legal action was not immediately answered Thursday.
Trump easily won Michigan's Republican primary this week over Nikki Haley.
Karamo was voted out of leadership after months of internal fighting over finances and strategy. She had been a Trump supporter and unsuccessful Republican candidate for secretary of state when she won the top party post in 2023.
"This is an intra-party dispute that should be resolved through the political process — not court intervention," Karamo's lawyers said.
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