FLINT, Mich. (AP) — The race among Republicans for Michigan’s state Supreme Court, already shaken up by attorney Matthew DePerno ‘s decision to drop out, got a further jolt during Saturday’s nominating convention when the former party chairperson was escorted out of the arena.
Kristina Karamo, who was ousted as chairperson in January after less than a year, was told she was not a delegate and two police officers led her out, the Detroit News reported.
DePerno said in a Friday night statement that his decision was based on how he could best help former President Donald Trump win Michigan and reclaim the White House. It came just hours before both Republicans and Democrats gathered to choose nominees for two available seats on the court with majority control at stake.
DePerno, who rose to prominence repeating false claims about the 2020 election and faces felony charges of trying to illegally access and tamper with voting machines, said he talked to Trump this week and decided he could do more to help Trump win by bolstering the state’s absentee and early voting programs.
“This is about which candidates give Republicans the strongest chance of carrying Michigan for President Trump,” DePerno said in a statement. “This is also about who can best work outside the ticket to get our candidates elected. I can use my knowledge about how elections work to get Republicans elected.”
DePerno has denied wrongdoing in the voting machine tampering case and calls his prosecution politically motivated.
Karamo told reporters she had come to gather votes for Detroit attorney Alexandria Taylor — and Taylor said she had given tickets to Karamo.
Tyson Shepard, the party’s executive director, said Karamo had been offered a guest credential, but when she refused it, she rejected a request to leave, and police were called.
The party ejected Karamo after months of bickering over finances and strategy. A judge ruled in February that she had been removed properly and recognized former congressman Pete Hoekstra as the legitimate chairperson.
Supreme Court races in Michigan are officially nonpartisan — meaning candidates appear without a party label on the ballot — but the nominees are chosen by party convention.
Democratic-backed justices currently hold a 4-3 majority. Republican victories in both races would flip control of the court. Two Democratic wins would yield a 5-2 supermajority.
Republicans have framed the races as a fight to stop government overreach, while Democrats say it’s a battle to preserve reproductive rights. Michiganders enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution in 2022.
Republican delegates gathered in Flint now have a choice between Taylor and Circuit Court Judge Patrick O’Grady for the seat currently held by Justice Kyra Harris Bolden.
At the Democratic convention in Lansing, delegates are expected to nominate Bolden, who faces no party challengers and was appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after another justice stepped down in 2022.
Bolden is the first Black woman to be appointed to the state’s highest court and would be the first elected if she prevails in November.
The other seat up for grabs is currently occupied by Republican-backed conservative Justice David Viviano, who announced in March that he would not seek reelection.
Court of Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra and state Rep. Andrew Fink are competing for the Republican nomination for that seat, while University of Michigan Law School professor Kimberly Ann Thomas is unopposed for the Democratic nod.
The conventions kick off what will almost certainly be competitive and expensive general election races. The candidates seeking Democratic backing have raised far more money than their counterparts on the other side, according to campaign finance reports.