Disgruntled, pro-Trump Republicans in Michigan are one step closer to making the “Patriot Party” an alternative option to the GOP.
The party got the green light from the Board of State Canvassers on Thursday to start gathering signatures for a petition seeking to certify the party, giving it the potential to appear on the 2022 ballot.
The right-wing party, founded by 44-year-old Brian VanDussen, was first floated after members of the traditional Republican Party felt party leaders did not do enough to fight alleged 2020 election fraud, claims pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies for months after President Joe Biden was declared the winner.
“The election happened, and we just got sick of Republicans sitting around, not standing up for what’s right,” VanDussen, a potential 2022 gubernatorial candidate, told MLive. “Shortly after the election, when things mentioning a third party were going around on social media, I thought, ‘If ever there was a time, it would be now.’”
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To be certified, the Michigan Patriot Party would need to collect some 42,000 signatures and gather 100 more from at least half of the state’s 83 counties within 180 days. The Michigan Bureau of Elections, at the behest of the secretary of state, would then review the signatures, and if a sufficient number is verified, a final vote would be taken by the Board of State Canvassers.
The party could appear on the ballot for the 2022 midterm elections.
Out of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump earlier this year after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, two were from Michigan: Reps. Fred Upton and Peter Meijer.
Several county-level GOP parties approved censure resolutions against the two lawmakers after their impeachment votes, according to the Detroit News.
Though Trump himself dismissed rumors of starting his own version of a third party, the former president has chastised Republicans he felt did not support him enough during his presidency or post-election.
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During his speech at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Trump went after GOP members who voted to impeach him, including Meijer and Upton, encouraging voters to remove them from office.
“Get rid of them all,” Trump said. “[Democrats are] vicious, they’re smart, and they do one thing, I got to hand it to them, they always stick together. You don’t have Mitt Romneys in the group. They always stick together.”
