Some worry Michigan GOP can't afford Grand Hotel rental fees for conference

(Detroit Free Press) LANSING — The Michigan Republican Party is taking in money but facing mounting expenditures as it pays salaries to Chair Kristina Karamo and six other employees and shells out significant deposits for its planned use of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island for a September conference, a report filed Monday shows.

The report filed with the Federal Election Commission shows the party took in $327,000 between April 1 and June 30 and spent just over $288,000 during that period. The party reported having just under $147,000 in cash on hand.

But many of the party receipts match specific dollar amounts listed on the party website for the Mackinac Island ferry, the conference registration, and rooms at the Grand Hotel for the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in September. A person familiar with the conference planning, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said much of the money reported as receipts does not represent donations to the party. Instead, it represents payments from Mackinac conference attendees, the source said. ...........(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2023/08/01/michigan-republican-party-finances-mackinac-conference/70500083007/