Last week, the Grand New Party PAC hosted a Zoom call with Dr. Rob Steele, the RNC committeeman for Michigan. He shared some very helpful and interesting information about the confusing process that will be used to determine our presidential delegates next year.

Adam de Angeli of Rescue Michigan, several elected Congressional District Committee chairs, and other state committee members appeared on the call to have an informed discussion about what can be done to improve the process. The call was very enlightening about the nature of the presidential primary and what can be done to avert disaster.

Here is a primer on the situation that Michigan residents should understand about the process before watching the call:

  1. Every four years, each state picks their preferred presidential candidate who receives representatives called delegates that go to a national convention to ultimately determine who the presidential nominee for each major political party.
  2.  The current system that is used to determine presidential delegates in Michigan is an open primary, which is funded by the taxpayers.
  3. Because of rule changes approved by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Democrats, the primary date was moved up several weeks earlier this year.
  4. This puts Michigan in a place where their open presidential primaries will violate the rules with the Republican National Committee (RNC), the organization that governs conventions where Republican presidential nominees are determined.
  5. The RNC will punish Michigan by disenfranchising 85 percent of their delegates as a result of the rule change if Michigan continues with their open primary.
  6. Michigan does not have to use an open primary to determine how their state’s presidential delegates are apportioned to national convention.
  7. Michigan can replace the open primary process with a closed caucus, an open caucus, or ultimately just determining who gets the delegates during a convention of duly-elected precinct delegates next year.
  8. The Grand New Party PAC has proposed rules for a closed caucus, reached out to different stakeholders within the Michigan Republican Party and started a study group to determine which is the best solution to this problem to keep Michigan Republicans from losing their presidential delegates.

Here is the video from our Zoom call about what to do with the Michigan Republican presidential primary in 2024 and beyond: