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Karamo, DePerno Earn MIGOP Backing After Convention

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The stage is set for some of the top offices in the state, as the Republicans endorsed their official candidates for Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Supreme Court and several university boards.

While there will still be a primary vote for  the positions, Saturday the GOP held their endorsement convention, picking the candidates the party will  officially endorse and financially back.

“I think this is probably the most important convention I’ve ever attended,” said Carolyn Curtin, chairwoman of the Osceola County GOP.

History and poll numbers show the Republicans have a shot at flipping many Democrat held seats statewide.

“There’s a lot of emotion around the election, probably on both sides,” said Lisa Trombley, chairwoman of the Grand Traverse County GOP.

The main offices for grabs Saturday in Grand Rapids were Secretary of State and Attorney General.

“This is the time really for the Republicans to get somebody that we’re going to get behind,” said Tony Cutler, delegate from Chippewa County, “So that they can start campaigning early, rather than battling each other. It’s going to give them time to go one-on-one against their opponent.”

The winners were Kristina Karamo and Matthew DePerno, both candidates former President Donald Trump endorsed, and finally names the GOP can stand behind for the next six months.

“I think it’s very crucial,” said Curtin, “We don’t need to shoot ourselves in the foot.”

During the second round of voting, mainly for Attorney General, that seemed to happen. An issue in understanding the ballot and incorrect votes brought the convention to a halt.

“I went to legal counsel, I talked to all the campaigns and everybody thought there were no problem,” said Ron Weiser, chairman of the Michigan GOP, “So we continued voting after that. It was a proper thing to do, the way it was done.”

Several delegates say their ballots were filled out mistakenly and they couldn’t change, the party disagreed.

“We don’t believe there are actually any votes affected,” said Gus Portela, communications director for the MIGOP, “Again both campaigns agreed with the state party and ultimately that’s why we decided to resume the vote.”

This was the first time the Republicans moved their convention to the spring.

“There are going to be hiccups in anything that’s moved up and anything that’s new,” said Portela, “At the end of the day, the accomplishments were, that we will be getting around a candidate for Attorney General, Secretary of State and another number of other offices.”

These are the candidates the party endorses but at least at first not everyone agreed. Many delegates said these Trump-backed nominees make a statement now, but will lose in November.

“I think they are sore losers,” said Weiser, “We’re going to unite together and will be able to win this election this fall.”

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