GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. \u2014 The Michigan Republican Party endorsed Kristina Karamo as its secretary of state candidate Saturday, making her the first GOP secretary of state selection who has repeatedly cast doubt on the 2020 election outcome. Former President Donald Trump endorsed her in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will not let you down,” Karamo said at the GOP\u2019s endorsement convention. \u201cI\u2019m fighting for the people of Michigan, irrespective of political affiliation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a formal party vote in the August GOP primary, Karamo is expected to face incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in the November general election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A political newcomer, Karamo is among at least 17 other election deniers vying for control of election proceedings in 14 states and one of three backed back by Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re grateful for his support,\u201d she said of Trump, \u201cand we\u2019re grateful for the support of people all across the state of Michigan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Approximately 2,500 Republican delegates chosen at the county level cast their ballots Saturday at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids for several down-ballot races. Karamo garnered about 67% of secretary of state votes in the first round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michigan selects candidates for some offices \u2014 including secretary of state, attorney general and university board members \u2014 by party nomination at a convention, rather than a primary vote. The parties\u2019 candidates for Congress, governor and the state legislature will be determined by primary elections in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump congratulated Karamo Saturday after she secured the party endorsement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMichigan is one of the worst on election fraud and corruption,\u201d the former president said in a statement, \u201cand they [Karamo and Matt DePerno, the Republican party\u2019s unofficial attorney general nominee] will put an end to it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hillsdale County delegate Namrata Carolan said Trump\u2019s endorsements \u201cplay a big role\u201d in how she casts her vote. She named election integrity as one of her top concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe this fight will go in vain, but I\u2019m fighting for my children,\u201d Carolan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holly Spalding, a delegate from Oakland County who carried a Karamo sign and sported a \u201cKristina for SoS\u201d button on her jacket, said she thinks Trump\u2019s support for a candidate is \u201cimportant, but it\u2019s not 100%. It checks the box.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Political newcomer Kristina Karamo nabbed the unofficial party nomination in Grand Rapids with 67% of the first-round vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-michigan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":743,"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions\/743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcprojects.medill.northwestern.edu\/sosfordemocracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}