Michigan Republican Party


The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan. It is sometimes referred to as MIGOP, which simply means Michigan Grand Old Party. Former United States Ambassador to Slovakia Ronald Weiser is the most recent former Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. Laura Cox was elected chairwoman in 2019.
Ronna Romney McDaniel was the chairwoman of the party, having been elected in 2015 by delegates to the Republican State Convention. McDaniel is now the Republican National Committee Chairwoman.
The Michigan Republican Party hosts a biennial political conference at the Mackinac Island Grand Hotel called the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference. The event features notable national Republicans, Senators, Governors, and presidential candidates.

History and notable Michigan Republicans

The Republican Party was born in the early 1850s by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge. The first official Republican meeting took place on July 6, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan with David S. Walbridge serving as chairman. The name "Republican" was chosen because it alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party. At the Jackson convention, the new party adopted a platform and nominated candidates for office in Michigan.
In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont was nominated for president of the United States under the "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont" slogan. Even though they were considered a "third party" because the Democrats and Whigs represented the two-party system at the time, Fremont received 33 percent of the vote. Four years later, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the White House.
Republicans have been elected to the governorship of Michigan in 27 of 48 gubernatorial elections. The first was Kingsley Bingham in 1855 and the most recent is Rick Snyder, who was elected in 2010, and then re-elected in 2014.
After President Richard Nixon resigned due to the Watergate Scandal, his Vice-President Gerald Ford became the 38th President of the United States. Ford grew up in Grand Rapids and served as a U.S. Representative from Michigan from 1949 to 1973.
Following the 2016 election and Reince Priebus' selection to be White House Chief of Staff, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel became Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. Then President-elect Trump recommended McDaniel in December 2016 to replace Priebus. She was officially elected as RNC chair on January 19, 2017, becoming the second woman to hold the post in RNC history, after Mary Louise Smith.

Current elected Republicans in Michigan

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

Both of Michigan's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 2000. Spencer Abraham was the last Republican to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate. First elected in 1994, Abraham lost his bid for a second term in 2000 to Democrat Debbie Stabenow who has held the seat since.

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 14 seats Michigan is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 6 are held by Republicans:
Michigan has not elected any GOP candidates to statewide office since 2014, when Rick Snyder, Brian Calley, Bill Schuette, and Ruth Johnson were re-elected as governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state, respectively. In 2018, term limits prevented all four politicians from seeking third terms. Schuette ran as the Republican nominee in the 2018 gubernatorial election with Lisa Posthumus Lyons as his running mate and was subsequently defeated by Democratic challenger Gretchen Whitmer and running mate Garlin Gilchrist while Tom Leonard and Mary Treder Lang ran as the Republican nominees for Attorney General and Secretary of State and were subsequently defeated by Democratic challengers Dana Nessel and Jocelyn Benson.

Michigan Legislature

The following are in order of Presidential succession.
NameCabinet PositionYears ServedPresident served under
Charles Erwin WilsonSecretary of Defense1953-57Dwight D. Eisenhower
Zachariah ChandlerSecretary of the Interior1875-77Ulysses S. Grant
Roy Dikeman ChapinSecretary of Commerce1932-33Herbert Hoover
Frederick H. MuellerSecretary of Commerce1959-61Dwight D. Eisenhower
Governor George W. RomneySecretary of Housing and Urban Development1969-73Richard Nixon
Spencer AbrahamSecretary of Energy2001-05George W. Bush
Betsy DeVosSecretary of Education2017-Donald Trump
Governor Russell A. AlgerSecretary of War obsolete1897-99William McKinley
Truman H. NewberrySecretary of the Navy obsolete1908-09Theodore Roosevelt
Edwin C. DenbySecretary of the Navy obsolete1921-24Warren G. Harding & Calvin Coolidge
Arthur E. SummerfieldPostmaster General obsolete1953-61Dwight D. Eisenhower

Michigan Republican State Committee

The Michigan Republican State Committee is the state central committee of the Michigan Republican Party. It is composed of seven members from each of Michigan's fifteen Congressional district Republican committees, the Chairman, Co-Chairman, the various Vice Chairmen of the Party, and the Secretary, Treasurer and General and Financial Counsels. It selects Michigan's two representatives to the Republican National Committee. Additionally, the Chairperson of each County Republican Party organization is a non-voting ex officio member of the State Committee.

Current leadership

First DistrictSecond DistrictThird DistrictFourth DistrictFifth District
Jeff LambKurt Van KoeveringKim YobJoan JacksonLutullus Penton
Linda BirgelJack HolmesMandy BolterFlorence "Bobbie" ConnollyPrudy Adam
Beverly BodemPaul LeidigAndrew EmmittKim EmmonsAmy Carl
John HaggardJanice McCranerRichard HouskampMaxine McClellandDavid Krueger
John NiemelaJuanita PiermanEileen McNeilSteve RudoniJeremy Clontz
Mary SearsJoan RunnelsWilliam WomerEric St. OngeChristine Young
Anthony StackpooleBob SpringsteadSharon YentschGerald WallAllen Pool

Chairmen of the Michigan Republican State Committee

NameResidenceYears Served
Joseph WarrenDetroit1854–1855
James M. EdmundsDetroit1855–1861
E.C. WalkerDetroit1861–1862
William Alanson HowardDetroit1862–1868
Governor John J. BagleyDetroit1868–1870
Stephen D. BinghamLansing1870–1878
George H. HopkinsDetroit1878
Zachariah ChandlerDetroit1878–1879
James McMillanDetroit1879–1880
Governor Henry P. BaldwinDetroit1880–1882
Edward S. LaceyCharlotte1882–1884
Philip T. Van ZileCharlotte1884–1886
James McMillanDetroit1886–1888
George H. HopkinsDetroit1888–1890
James McMillanDetroit1890–1896
Dexter M. FerryDetroit1896–1898
Arthur M. MarshAllegan1898–1900
Gerrit J. DiekemaHolland1900–1910
W.F. KnoxSault Ste. Marie1910–1912
Governor Alex GroesbeckDetroit1912–1914
Gilman M. DameNorthport1914–1916
John D. MangumMarquette1916–1918
Burt D. CadyPort Huron1919–1925
Kennedy L. PotterJackson1925–1927
Gerrit J. DiekemaHolland1927–1929
Howard C. LawrenceIonia and Saginaw1929–1937
James F. ThomsonJackson1937–1940
Leslie B. ButlerLansing1940–1942
John R. DethmersHolland1942–1945
John A. WagnerBattle Creek1945–1949
Owen ClearyYpsilanti1949–1953
John FeikensDetroit1953–1957
Lawrence LindemerStockbridge1957–1961
George Van PeursemZeeland1961–1963
Arthur G. Elliott, Jr.Birmingham1963–1965
Elly M. PetersonCharlotte1965–1969
William F. McLaughlinNorthville1969–1979
Melvin L. LarsonOxford1979–1983
E. Spencer AbrahamEast Lansing1983–1991
David J. DoyleOkemos1991–1995
Susy Heintz Clinton Township1995–1996
Elisabeth "Betsy" DeVosGrand Rapids1996–2000
Gerald "Rusty" HillsEast Lansing2000–2003
Elisabeth "Betsy" DeVosGrand Rapids2003–2005
Saulius "Saul" AnuzisLansing2005–2009
Ron WeiserAnn Arbor2009–2011
Robert "Bobby" SchostakOakland County2011–2015
Ronna Romney McDanielNorthville2015–2017
Ron WeiserAnn Arbor2017–2019
Laura CoxLivonia2019–Present