Grand New Party PAC Opposes Fee Imposition To Run For Michigan Republican Party Chair

The Grand New Party PAC opposes the Michigan Republican Party's proposal to add a mandatory prohibitive fee that would prohibit candidates from running for Party Chair unless they raised an arbitrary dollar amount.

It is a particularly bad idea to implement this policy when trust among the grassroots is more necessary than ever. This has the potential to backfire and cause more dissention among the various factions of the Republican Party at a time when unity may be tenable for the first time in many years.

After Trump's resounding victory here in Michigan and nationwide, there is a level of elation that has not been felt in the party since 2016. The victory occurred because every Republican, whether perceived as being from the establishment or from the grassroots, was singularly focused on the goal of getting Trump elected.

The addition of the mandatory prohibitive fee has the potential to expose the fault lines and reopen wounds that should remain closed. This misguided decision will drive wedges between factions of the party that need to be able to get along for the purposes of making sure Trump enacts his America First agenda over the next four years. 

Creating this mandatory fee to run for MRP Chair sends a message that the Party is only for the wealthy and well connected, rather than the people. After the successful election, it should be easy for Chairman Hoekstra or a potential successor to make the case that a major shake-up in Party leadership is unnecessary. They could make a persuasive, sincere case to precinct delegates that the Party is moving in the right direction, building bridges in the process. But mandating the prohibitive fee undermines that potential argument and will only add fuel to the fire of division within the party.

Putting forward a candidate who cannot raise money as MRP Chair does not make sense, but those determinations should be made during the vetting process by precinct delegates. An artificial barrier meant to dissuade more candidates from running, taking choice away from the delegates, will only hasten paranoia and bad blood and take the focus off of uniting behind Trump's America First agenda. This is an overreach that will be counterproductive toward its intended goal.

This prohibitive measure will only galvanize grassroots patriots to become more enraged against the Party establishment and severely reduce trust. It will be perceived as disenfranchising the delegates and giving more power to the monied elite. The delegates need to be trusted to make the right decision on leadership despite whatever mistakes may have been made in the past. Better education and outreach is necessary to achieve more desirable results in choice of leadership, rather than creating procedural obstacles.

The Grand New Party PAC is working to create an informed, professionalized delegate base with our inclusive Precinct Action Caucus database. There are many other leaders who are performing similar services with their groups and their efforts in Counties and Districts. Instead of devising new rules to disenfranchise the delegates, we should be redoubling these education and outreach efforts to ensure that quality leadership will be elected and considered legitimate to the grassroots conservative base.

For these reasons, the Grand New Party PAC opposes any and all fees implemented to restrict the pool of candidates to be the next Michigan Republican Party Chair.