LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo, who was defeated by current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in the 2022 Election, was chosen by fellow Republicans on Saturday, February 18, over Kalamazoo attorney Matt DePerno as the next leader of the Michigan Republican Party.
Karamo will be the first black women to lead the Michigan GOP and will serve with co-chair Malinda Pego for the next two years.
She beat out Trump-endorsed failed Attorney General DePerno who had been expected to win. He is currently under investigation for allegedly tampering with voting machines used in the 2020 election, which has been part of a larger effort led by election deniers looking for proof that the election had been stolen from former president Donald Trump.
Both Karamo and DePerno have denied the results of the 2020 election, with Karamo becoming more widely known for spreading COVID conspiracy theories and denying election results, including her own.
Michigan Republicans are coming off years of losses, not only losing the state’s top leadership positions, but the majority in the legislature, handing Democrats full power for the first time in forty years.
