Kristina Karamo falsely claimed former President Donald Trump won Michigan and spent weeks challenging the election results. Now she’s running for Secretary of State, the office responsible for administering election law.
Karamo, an Oak Park resident, was a poll challenger at the TCF Center in Detroit who claimed she witnessed irregularities in the processing of absentee ballots. Karamo made dozens of appearances on right-wing media outlets as a “whistleblower,” testified before a Michigan legislative committee and supported legal efforts to overturn the presidential election.
Related: A closer look at how Trump lost Michigan: State releases election results by city, township
Michigan’s certified election results show President Joe Biden won the state by 154,188 votes. Last month, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson released details on 250 post-election audits that reaffirmed the accuracy of the election.
The majority of audits were conducted by bipartisan county clerks. The audits found “no examples of fraud or intentional misconduct by election officials and no evidence that equipment used to tabulate or report election results did not function properly when properly programmed and tested.”
Benson, a Democrat, has called the 2020 election the most fair, secure and accurate in Michigan’s history. The former president and his allies continue to allege widespread fraud caused him to lose the state regardless, despite a lack of evidence.
Benson has not announced whether she will run for re-election in 2022. She was elected in 2018 with 53% of the vote.
Karamo formed her candidate committee on March 19. Her campaign issued a press release Thursday announcing her candidacy.
The release touts her appearance on Fox News programs. Karamo was interviewed by Sean Hannity, Lous Dobbs and other conservative media personalities about her experiences at the TCF Center in Detroit. Her campaign website lists election integrity as a top issue and states Karamo built a “patriot team” who are researching election failures.
“Running to be Secretary of State is not a ‘career move’ for me,” Karmano said in a statement. “I am running to remove corruption from our elections and from the Michigan SOS office. That corruption is a real threat to our survival as a state and as a nation. A secure election is how we the people, give our consent to be governed.”
Cathleen Postmus, a Plainfield Township clerk, is also running for the Republican Party’s nomination. Postmus was re-elected to the clerk’s office for a second term in 2020 and ran unopposed. A website for her secretary of state campaign also cites a need for “increased transparency and accountability in how we run our elections.”
Shaun Whitehead filed a candidate committee with no party affiliation in March.
Karamo testified before the Senate Oversight Committee during a December hearing on the election. Oversight Committee Chair Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, said the probe revealed no evidence of widespread fraud.
Like Trump, Karamo criticized Michigan Republicans who pushed back against allegations that the election was “stolen.” Karamo called then-House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican who met with Trump after the election but refused to replace the Democratic electors, a “fraud” in a tweet published days after Michigan’s Electoral College vote.
Karamo repeatedly pointed to Antrim County as evidence of alleged irregularities that tipped the state to Biden. A legal battle is ongoing over the results. An audit and hand recount of the votes showed a total of 9,759 votes for Trump and 5,959 for Biden — a net change of 12 votes from the tabulated results.
Karamo included her affidavit in a lawsuit filed by members of Black Voices for Trump. The lawsuit sought an injunction preventing Michigan’s results from being certified, but was rejected in a 4-3 decision by the Michigan Supreme Court.
Karamo also filed to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general that sought to block Michigan’s Electoral College votes from being counted. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas lacked standing to bring the lawsuit.
Karamo is a member of MIGOP state committee and was on the Black leadership committee with Right to Life, an anti-abortion group. She unsuccessfully ran for Oakland County commissioner in 2018.
Karamo teaches a college orientation class at Wayne County Community College. She has a master’s degree in Christian Apologetics, the study of defending theology, and a bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies from Oakland University.
MLive contacted Karamo’s campaign with a request for comment. The campaign did not arrange an interview Thursday.
READ MORE ON MLIVE:
A closer look at how Trump lost Michigan: State releases election results by city, township
Judge reins in sprawling Michigan election fraud lawsuit
Antrim County hand recount results in 12 new votes for Trump
With the world watching, a Republican state canvasser helps make Biden’s win in Michigan official