GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—After winning the state’s Republican primary on Feb. 27, former President Donald J. Trump has had another decisive victory in unofficial results from the state GOP caucus convention in Grand Rapids.
With President Trump claiming much, much more than 50 percent of the vote in all 13 districts, all 39 delegates at stake are on pace to go to him. Zero would go to former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
The last of the unofficial results came in at around 3:00 p.m., a few hours after the convention began. President Trump claimed 97.77 percent of the vote. The results will be certified later in the evening.
Those numbers were delayed by extended rules-related disputes and attempts to remove the chair in the meeting for District 9, which lasted long into the afternoon in a stuffy, overcrowded room in the basement of the hotel. By the time voting finally took place, the media had been voted out of the room.
The long, drawn-out process had something to do with conflict between Kristina Karamo and former Congressman Pete Hoekstra over who leads the party.
Ms. Karamo has asserted that she continues to lead the party in the state as chairwoman, arguing that a vote in January to remove her was improper.
But in February, an RNC vote affirmed that former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the man endorsed by President Trump, is in charge. Just days ago, a judge ruled against Ms. Karamo’s claims.
Elsewhere in the state, rival caucus events were held as a result of that leadership dispute. But many followers of Ms. Karamo took part in the Grand Rapids event.
The atmosphere was much less tense and claustrophobic earlier in the day at the meeting for District 2.
“Isn’t this a lot better than a 12-hour state convention?” Andrew Sebolt, who was leading the District 2 meeting at the caucus convention, told the crowd shortly ahead of his district’s vote.
One person, Carter Houtman, stood up in favor of Ms. Haley in a packed room deciding where District 2’s delegates would go.
Angela Rigas, a Republican state representative and delegate, told The Epoch Times she was unsurprised to see the lack of support for Ms. Haley.
“Trump is our clear frontrunner, and he will win the nomination,” she said.
Ken Thorne, another delegate from the district who supports President Trump, speculated that others in the room supported Ms. Haley but didn’t have the courage to stand up for her.
“I give the guy credit. He’s standing on his principles, and that’s exactly what we need to do,” Mr. Thorne told The Epoch Times.
“I already knew that I was going to be the minority in the room. I didn’t know I was going to be the only one,” Mr. Houtman told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Houtman said he would still vote for President Trump in the general election if he garners the nomination.
All 13 districts in the party’s caucus voted overwhelmingly for President Trump, with virtually all turning in Trump vote percentages well above 90 percent. In multiple districts, President Trump claimed 100 percent of the vote.
The allocation of 55 delegates from Michigan to the Republican National Convention this summer was split between a caucus and the primary after Michigan’s Democrat-dominated legislature voted to move the primary date to before March 1—a move that violated Republican rules on primary scheduling rules.
Of the 16 delegates awarded as part of the Feb. 27 Republican primary, 12 went to President Trump, while 4 went to Ms. Haley. President Trump earned 68.1 percent of the vote to Ms. Haley’s 26.6 percent.
