Republicans are now completely out of power in the Midwest battleground state and struggling to settle on a path forward.
After a shellacking that wiped them out of power in every branch of state government for the first time in 40 years, Michigan Republicans are discordantly wrestling with an uncertain future.
The front-runners to be the next state GOP chair are failed candidates from 2022 who lost their races after hewing closely to former President Donald Trump’s election conspiracy theories. A sizable faction of Republican state lawmakers, meanwhile, is eager to move on from Trump, who is running for the White House again in 2024, and encouraging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to challenge him.
Another messy primary is brewing in the race for Michigan’s open Senate seat in 2024. The most likely GOP prospects represent a mix of these dueling wings of the party: the milder conservatives whose antipathy toward Trump could make it tough to win the nomination and the Trump-loyal election deniers who have shown they have limited appeal in general elections.
“When we let passion have its way, sometimes we forget who our competitors are,” said state Rep. Phil Green, one of 18 GOP legislators who in December signed a hand-delivered letter urging DeSantis to challenge Trump. “The fear is that we hurt ourselves in the process.”
The divide is not unique to Michigan. Republicans in other presidential battlegrounds, from Arizona to Pennsylvania, have struggled to balance the demands of their Trump-loyal base with the broader support needed to win closely divided states. But the returns have been particularly frustrating in Michigan, where after Trump’s 2016 victory the GOP appeared to be on the verge of building a decisive coalition of working-class voters.
Whether the future is steeped in Trumpism or a throwback to a more traditional and less combative brand of Republicanism, those on both sides are presenting themselves as peacemakers.
“Subtraction is the worst way to win an election,” said former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who acknowledged to NBC News that he is considering a return to politics, possibly as a Senate or White House candidate in 2024.
Rogers said that the Trump years introduced a “constant state of chaos” and a raft of conspiracy theories that have alienated and exhausted the more mainstream voters in the state.
“Remember ‘The Gong Show?’” Rogers asked, referring to a late ’70s televised talent show where losers were voted off by the sound of a gong. “I think we got a double gong.”
Trump took a substantial interest in Michigan after narrowly losing the state in 2020. Last year, he endorsed candidates up and down the ballot, in hope of having GOP allies in place for the 2024 election. But Democrats there found an easy contrast and cast Republicans as threats to democracy, appealing to swing voters who didn’t buy Trump’s conspiracy theories. State party officials cited these and other tensions when assigning blame for their losses last year.
“At the end of the day, high quality, substantive candidates and well-funded campaigns are still critical to winning elections,” Paul Cordes, the state party’s chief of staff, wrote in a memo after the November election. “We struggled in both regards to the detriment of Michiganders across the state.”
But Trump remains ever-present. In the 11-candidate race for state party chair, the former president has endorsed last year’s losing candidate for attorney general, Matt DePerno, who is being investigated by the state on suspicions that he and eight others illegally tampered with the state’s voting machines. DePerno has denied any wrongdoing. GOP observers believe Trump’s backing gives DePerno the edge over Kristina Karamo — another election denier who lost a race for secretary of state last year — at this month’s state party convention, where Ron Weiser, the current chair, is not seeking a new term.
“Depending on who you talk to, you’re going to get differing views and opinions on both Donald Trump and the direction people think the party should go,” DePerno said. “What we need to do as a party in Michigan is come together and stop the infighting and the tribalism.”
DePerno’s case to be party chair centers more on internal party process than on policy. And though he said he shares Trump’s distaste for absentee voting by mail, DePerno said the party needs to “adapt our strategies” to match Democrats. Unlike Trump, DePerno advocates for robust early voting — so that Republicans can reclaim power and pass restrictive voting laws.