And she seems nuts
A lovely person, perfectly qualified for a high executive office in a big state:
A Republican running a family values campaign is certainly not a headline.
But Michigan GOP Secretary of State nominee Kristina Karamo has combined that message with her penchant for conspiracy theories, ties to extremist groups and a belief that Satan is involved in everything from yoga to churches that hang rainbow flags.
In a video captured during the Michigan Republican Party convention in August, Karamo placed abortion as the foundational reason for her entry into politics.
“I’m pro-life from conception to natural death and that’s the reason I got into politics is to fight against abortion,” said Karamo.
It’s an unusual approach when seeking a post running a state agency whose services include “administering election law and voter registration, licensing drivers, registering and titling vehicles, regulating auto dealerships and repair facilities, licensing auto mechanics, commissioning notaries public and overseeing the Office of the Great Seal.”
Karamo is trying to oust Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Nov. 8.
Karamo, a one-time community college instructor, rose to prominence within the Republican Party for her devotion to the thoroughly disproven conspiracy that the 2020 election was stolen. In fact, President Joe Biden won Michigan by more than 154,000 votes.
The Republican alleged there was illegal vote counting at the former TCF Center in downtown Detroit where she showed up as a self-appointed “poll challenger.” However, her allegations, which she stated in an affidavit, were based on a misunderstanding of the process that was underway there in which approximately 174,000 absentee ballots were being counted.
While Karamo did not respond to requests for comment for this story, she did give a statement to the Detroit Free Press standing by her allegations.
“The allegations in my affidavit ARE accurate. I submitted an affidavit regarding what I personally witnessed. You have never investigated the specific allegations in my affidavit, nor has anyone else. THEREFORE, you CAN NOT [sic] claim my allegations were ‘inaccurate,’” Karamo said.
After former President Donald Trump encouraged supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, where Congress was scheduled to certify the 2020 election results, Karamo dismissed the insurrection attempt as a false-flag operation — another popular far-right conspiracy.
“Based on the series of evidence and knowing how these situations work, how these anarchists operate, I believe this is completely Antifa posing as Trump supporters,” Karamo said. “I mean, anybody can buy a MAGA hat and put on a t-shirt and buy a Trump flag.”
While that statement was made the day after the insurrection, Karamo has never walked it back.
She earned Trump’s endorsement, which helped her easily defeat two more experienced opponents, state Rep. Beau LaFave (R-Iron Mountain) and Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry at the Michigan Republican Party’s early endorsement convention this spring.
Should Karamo win the Nov. 8 general election, she would no longer be a mere participant in election conspiracies; she would be in charge of the election apparatus itself.
Trump former adviser Steve Bannon and other Republicans have made no secret of their desire to control the elections process at the state and local level to help ensure future GOP victories.
To that end, there’s the America First Secretary of State Coalition, founded by Jim Marchant, the Republican nominee in Nevada. The group backs Karamo, Arizona Republican Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem and Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano — because the Keystone State’s governor gets to appoint the secretary of state.
All four states were won by Biden in 2020 and are considered key to the 2024 presidential election.
I don’t think it’s useful anymore to question what makes these people tick. It’s what makes the voters who vote for them tick. What happened in our society that would make millions of people think this makes any sense at all? Mass hysteria?
I’m posting stories about these various lunatics running for office around the country in the lead up to the election because I want to document this weird period. But every time I do it I get a shiver down my spine that they might just win. I suspect this one won’t. Michigan seems to have some sense and these kooks are down in the polls. But that’s not true everywhere.