Michigan Republican Party

History

Republicans have been elected to the governorship of Michigan in 27 of 48 gubernatorial elections. The first was Kingsley S. Bingham in 1855, and the most recent is Rick Snyder, who was elected in 2010, and then re-elected in 2014.

After President Richard Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal, Vice President Gerald Ford became the 38th President of the United States. Ford grew up in Grand Rapids and served as a U.S. Representative from Michigan from 1949 to 1973.

Following the 2016 election and Reince Priebus' selection to be White House Chief of Staff, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel became Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. Then-President-elect Trump recommended McDaniel in December 2016 to replace Priebus. She was officially elected as RNC chair on January 19, 2017, becoming the second woman to hold the post in RNC history, after Mary Louise Smith.

After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election in Michigan and Donald Trump refused to concede, the Michigan Republican Party pushed false claims of fraud and sought to overturn the election results. In January 2021, the Michigan Republican Party sought to replace GOP member Aaron Van Langevelde on the Michigan Board of Canvassers; he had previously voted to certify the Michigan election results in favor of Biden. One of the candidates that the Michigan Republican Party sought to nominate to that position was Linda Lee Tarver, who had been involved in efforts to overturn the election results.

According to the Associated Press, since Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election and Michigan swinging back to the Democrats, the Michigan GOP have taken a hard right-wing turn. The shift has altered the once moderate character of the state GOP and has instead embraced more right-wing elements. In 2021, the executive director of the Michigan GOP resigned after he declined to say that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump; delegates in the Michigan GOP had called for him to be fired for his remarks. Increasing internal divisions within the Michigan Republican Party led to a violent physical brawl at a state committee meeting in 2023, during which one party activist allegedly kicked a committee member in the groin and broke his rib.

Current elected Republicans in Michigan

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

• None

Both of Michigan's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 2001. Spencer Abraham was the last Republican to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate. First elected in 1994, Abraham lost re-election in 2000 to Democrat Debbie Stabenow.

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 13 seats Michigan is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 7 are held by Republicans:

Statewide

• None

Michigan has not elected any GOP candidates to statewide office since 2014, when Rick Snyder, Brian Calley, Bill Schuette, and Ruth Johnson were re-elected as governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state, respectively. In 2018, term limits prevented all four politicians from seeking third terms. Schuette ran as the Republican nominee in the 2018 gubernatorial election with Lisa Posthumus Lyons as his running mate and was subsequently defeated by Democratic challenger Gretchen Whitmer and running mate Garlin Gilchrist while Tom Leonard and Mary Treder Lang ran as the Republican nominees for Attorney General and Secretary of State and were subsequently defeated by Democratic challengers Dana Nessel and Jocelyn Benson.

Michigan Legislature

• Senate Minority Leader: Aric Nesbitt
• Majority Leader of the Michigan House of Representatives: Bryan Posthumus
• Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives: Matt Hall

United States cabinet members from Michigan who served under a Republican president

The following are in order of presidential succession.

Michigan Republican State Committee

The Michigan Republican State Committee is the state central committee of the Michigan Republican Party. It is composed of seven members from each of Michigan's Congressional district Republican committees, the Chairman, Co-Chairman, the various Vice Chairmen of the Party, and the Secretary, Treasurer and General and Financial Counsels. It selects Michigan's two representatives to the Republican National Committee. Additionally, the Chairperson of each County Republican Party organization is a non-voting ex officio member of the State Committee.

Current leadership

Chairmen of the Michigan Republican State Committee

References

References

1. Nelson, Louis. (January 19, 2017). "Ronna Romney McDaniel tapped to be new RNC chair". Politico.
2. "About {{!}} Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference".
3. (April 20, 2021). "Once the mainstream model, Michigan GOP embraces right wing".
4. (February 26, 2021). "Michigan GOP embraces right wing, moving away from its once mainstream model".
5. Layne, Nathan. (February 17, 2023). "Insight: Far-right Republican groups surge in swing state Michigan". Reuters.
6. (February 26, 2021). "Once the mainstream model, Michigan GOP embraces right wing". The Independent.
7. Oosting, Jonathan. (June 23, 2021). "GOP investigation finds no Michigan vote fraud, deems many claims 'ludicrous' | Bridge Michigan". [[Bridge Michigan]].
8. Spangler, Todd. (December 14, 2016). "Trump names Michigan's Ronna Romney McDaniel RNC chair". Detroit Free Press.
9. Mack, Julie. (November 22, 2020). "6 reasons that allegations of Michigan election fraud defy common sense".
10. Oosting, Jonathan. (December 9, 2020). "'I am certainly not dead!' Living voters contradict Michigan GOP fraud claims".
11. Boucher, Dave. "McDaniel claims election misconduct in Michigan, elsewhere, but doesn't present proof".
12. "Michigan Republicans seek to replace GOP canvasser who certified election".
13. (April 20, 2021). "Once the mainstream model, Michigan GOP embraces right wing".
14. (July 14, 2021). "Michigan GOP executive who blamed Trump for election loss resigns leadership post".
15. Wade, Peter. (July 9, 2023). "'He Kicked Me in My Balls.' Fight at Michigan GOP Meeting Turns Physical: Report".
16. [[William Alanson Howard]] later became [[United States Representative. U. S. Representative]] for the [[Michigan's 1st congressional district]] (1855–59), (1860–61) and [[Governor of Dakota Territory]] (1878–1880)
17. [[John J. Bagley]] later served as [[Governor of Michigan]] (1873–1877)
18. [[Zachariah Chandler]] had previously been [[Mayor of Detroit]] (1851–1852), [[United States Congressional Delegations from Michigan. U. S. Senator (Class 1) from Michigan]] (1857–1875, 1879) [[United States Secretary of the Interior. U. S. Secretary of the Interior]] (1875–77) and simultaneously Chairman of the [[Republican National Committee]] (1876–79)
19. [[James McMillan (politician). James McMillan]] was also a [[United States Congressional Delegations from Michigan. U. S. Senator (Class 2) from Michigan]] (1889–1902)
20. [[Henry P. Baldwin]] had previously served as [[Governor of Michigan]] (1869–1873) and [[United States Congressional Delegations from Michigan. United States Senator (Class 1) from Michigan]] (1879–1881)
21. [[Gerrit J. Diekema]] had also been [[United States Representative. U. S. Representative]] for the [[Michigan's 5th congressional district]] (1907–1911)
22. [[Alex J. Groesbeck]] was later [[Michigan Attorney General]] (1917–1920) and [[Governor of Michigan]] (1921–1927)
23. [[John R. Dethmers]] was later [[Michigan Attorney General]] (1945–1946)
24. [[Owen Cleary]] was later [[Michigan Secretary of State]] (1953–1954)
25. [[John Feikens]] is currently Senior Judge, [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan]] (since 1986)
26. [[Elly M. Peterson]] was the first woman to serve as chairman of any official state party.
27. [[Spencer Abraham]] later became [[United States Congressional Delegations from Michigan. U. S. Senator from Michigan]] (1995–2001) and [[United States Secretary of Energy. U. S. Secretary of Energy]] (2001–2005)
28. [[Betsy DeVos]] is married to 2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate [[Dick DeVos]]
29. [[Gerald Hills]] is currently the spokesman for [[Michigan Attorney General]] candidate [[Bill Schuette]].
30. [[Ronald Weiser]] is a former [[United States Ambassador to Slovakia]], appointed by [[George W. Bush]] in November 2001 and served until December 2004.