Some Michigan Republicans are forming a new political action committee with hopes of steering the party further to the right.
Organizers say the Grand New Party PAC will counter traditional Republican fundraising organizations which aim to secure Republican majorities.
“Often times it seems like this money is held over the heads of candidates to compel them to follow an agenda that’s not what their constituents want but what the special interests and the lobbyists want,” Grand New Party PAC executive director Shane Trejo said during a press conference Monday.
He said his group will help “America First” candidates in their local and legislative races, so they won’t have to depend as heavily on more established fundraising sources.
“Grand New Party is building the infrastructure so that conservative candidates can have backing, have support and not be out on an island when they’re running for office or when they’re elected,” Trejo said.
He outlined policy goals like weakening bureaucratic power, increasing transparency, and ending incentives programs that give tax breaks to large corporations.
Organizers of the PAC argue Michigan Republicans have gotten too tame, at the cost of votes. During Monday’s announcement, they pointed to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as an example Michigan should follow to recover from this month’s election losses.
The Michigan GOP declined to comment.
Republican state Representative Steve Carra chairs the new committee. He said Michigan GOP leadership and lawmakers let the party down by being too moderate while working with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who just won re-election.
“We saw a failure of moderating and a failure of being milquetoast and passive and doing what Gretchen Whitmer wanted us to do. We got a failure. Ron DeSantis stood up for what he believed in in Florida and he fought for principles that we want on our side of the aisle and the people rewarded him immensely,” Carra told reporters.
He said traditional donors should have done more to support Republican challengers at the top of the ticket this year. Carra said the Grand New Party PAC hopes to raise between $250,000 and $500,000 for the 2024 election cycle.
“We hear about these messages of unity and family. That’s pushed on us very immensely in Lansing. Well, if we’re going to unite and have that family-type feeling behind the Republican platform and behind our principals, then I think we’re going to be extremely successful,” Carra said.
He said the PAC will focus on changing the Republican party from the inside rather than running candidates as a third party.
Other guests at Monday’s announcement included Representative-elects Neil Friske (R-Charlevoix) and Angela Rigas (R-Alto).
