OUT OF BOUNDS
Traditionally, local, state and national party chairs stay out of the endorsement game during primary season, not wanting to put their finger on the scale for one candidate over another of their own party. But – in so many ways – this year is not like other years. And one key reason is it seems Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock is playing with her own playbook. An example is her recent endorsements of Republican Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo and attorney general candidate Matt DePerno, who are both supported by former President Donald Trump because they perpetuate the falsehood that he won the last presidential election. Reading from the same playbook, Bernadette Smith, Michigan GOP Ethnic Vice Chairwoman, also announced she is backing DePerno. While a GOP spokesperson told Gongwer Michigan, a Lansing insider’s newsletter, that Maddock was endorsing them “personally,” as we all know, when you’re in a leadership capacity, your voice is always as a leader. And unlike other positions, voters do not pick the Republican or Democratic candidate to represent the party for attorney general or secretary of state – they’re picked at the party endorsement convention, which for Republicans is April 23. DePerno is facing former state Speaker of the House Tom Leonard, who ran for attorney general in 2018, losing by just under three percent, and Commerce Rep. Ryan Berman to challenge Democrat incumbent Dana Nessel. Besides Karamo are state Rep. Beau LaFave (R-Iron Mountain), Cindy Berry, Chesterfield Township Clerk, and Cathleen Postmus, Plainfield Township Clerk, all hoping to challenge Democratic incumbent Jocelyn Benson in the general election.