Dan Wholihan, a three-time former chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, is now the chair of Michigan’s 7th District GOP after Friday’s vote at the Michigan GOP convention in Lansing.
The newly redrawn 7th District includes all of Livingston, Ingham, Clinton and Shiawassee counties, as well as a majority of Eaton County, and small portions of Oakland and Genesee counties. The new district includes the state capital of Lansing.
Should U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, run to fill the seat of retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow as many expect, Wholihan will find himself tasked with getting the open Congressional seat filled by a Republican.
The choice of district party chair started off as a contest between Wholihan and the controversial Mike Detmer, but came down to a race between Wholihan and the controversial former U.S. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio; Detmer bowed out shortly after Bentivolio announced his candidacy.
Wholihan said he is ready to take on the current Democratic “disasters” in power in 2024.
“We have a good, experienced team across this district, ready to work hard for our communities … over the next two years,” Wholihan said. “We will highlight our local, successful, conservative leadership in many of our communities, compared to the disasters running our state and federal governments currently.”
News reports have pegged this weekend’s Michigan Republican convention in Lansing as a chaotic event, one in which Kristina Karamo — who has yet to concede her 14-point loss in Michigan’s Secretary of State race — was elected the party’s state chair. (You can read about it in this column by M.L. Elrick.)
Wholihan said he wishes Karamo the best.
“I … hope she succeeds,” Wholihan said. “She’s inheriting a tough financial situation and difficult challenges.”
That’s putting it nicely.
After the disastrous Republican showing in Michigan’s midterms, in which Democrats seized all top elected posts and both houses of the legislature for the first time in over 40 years, GOP Chair Ron Weiser and co-Chair Meshawn Maddock announced they would not run for reelection. By all accounts, the party is broke, and raising funds could be a struggle.
