Two women were also elected to leadership positions, Marian Sheridan and Diane Shindlbeck, who together with Maddock formed Michigan Trump Republicans after he was elected in 2016. The group organized rallies, caravans and forums across the state to garner support for his re – selection bid.
“The Republican Party has evolved into the Trump party and, from Weiser’s point of view, has brought many new people into the party, and it is your job to keep them there,” said Tom Shields, a Republican political consultant from Lansing with the Group of Marketing Resources. “And using Meshawn as a channel for the roots is smart.”
The race to lead the Michigan Republican Party was launched in disarray this week when Cox, the current president, aimed at Weiser for what he called a “despicable reward” for a party official for him to give up the race for secretary of state in 2018.
Ms. Cox claimed that Weiser had sent $ 200,000 to Stan Grot, Shelby Township’s registrar in Macomb County, so that Mary Treder Lang would not face opposition to the Republican nomination for Secretary of State, Cox said. She said it was not only unethical, but also a violation of state campaign finance laws. She turned her complaint over to Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, who could open an investigation into the state’s Republican Party.
“If you think what Ron did is OK, then vote for him,” Cox wrote in an email to party delegates on Thursday. “If you don’t want behind-the-scenes deals and secret rewards, vote for me.”
In a social media post, Mr. Weiser called Ms. Cox’s accusations “a shameful attempt to destroy our party with reckless and baseless conspiracy theories so that she can return to the chair race and save her salary.”
He said the money paid to Grot was to organize the work he did in Macomb County, a major Republican stronghold, during the 2018 election cycle.