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State Rep. Matt Maddock booted from House GOP Caucus

April 27, 2022
<p>The Lansing Capitol building is being monitored on Election Day to prevent possible protests from arising. Shot on Nov. 3, 2020.</p>

The Lansing Capitol building is being monitored on Election Day to prevent possible protests from arising. Shot on Nov. 3, 2020.

Photo by Lauren DeMay | The State News

On Tuesday, April 26, State Rep. Matt Maddock was removed from the House GOP Caucus, according to an email from a House GOP spokesperson.

Maddock, R-Milford Township, is the husband of Michigan GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock. The two are seen as former President Donald Trump's most diehard loyalists in the state.

Matt Maddock, after declaring his intentions to run for state House Speaker once the term-limited state Rep. Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, is out of office, received Trump's endorsement, with Trump writing to him, “Matt I am with you all the way. Also you have a great wife.”

In an email to The State News, Gideon D'Assandro, a spokesperson for Wentworth, said that the decision to remove Matt Maddock was Wentworth's alone. It was not decided on by a vote from the GOP Caucus.

D'Assandro also said that the removal from the caucus will not affect Maddock's committee assignments.

When asked why Wentworth decided to remove Maddock, D'Assandro did not give a reason and instead said, “The caucus does not discuss internal issues.”

Sources have told Bridge Michigan that Maddock was removed because he was violating caucus rules by discussing caucus affairs in the public.

State Rep. Beau LaFave, R-Iron Mountain, also did not disclose why Maddock was removed but did say that he was personally upset that Maddock had been attacking Republican members of both the House and Senate over "minor disagreements" and because they would not support his run for speaker.

"I don't speak for the caucus, but I think it's quite unfair for him to go after conservative, hardworking Republicans in the House and Senate and target them for pure selfish gain," LaFave said.

LaFave said he was upset because Maddock had gone into another caucus member's district and proceeded to speak poorly of the member and insult their character. When Maddock was asked about it directly about the comments he had made, he lied. LaFave would not say whether this instance contributed to the decision to boot Maddock or not.

“You can disagree with me, you can vote against all my bills, you can think I'm a scumbag or whatever you want to think about me, and that's fine,” LaFave said. But I expect members of the House of Representatives to be honest with each other.”

LaFave went on to say that both Matt and Meshawn Maddock had lied to his face on multiple occasions and had heard about Matt Maddock doing the same to other members of the legislature.

LaFave, who was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State, said that both the Maddocks promised to support him in his run for statewide office "behind the scenes", but then turned around and recommended Trump endorse Kristina Karamo for the same position.

This last weekend in Grand Rapids, Karamo won the Michigan Republican Party endorsement for the secretary of state, while fellow Trump-endorsee Matthew DePerno won the race for attorney general. Karamo won the endorsement on the first ballot and DePerno won on the second ballot — during which, voting issues ensued.

Toward the end of the convention, LaFave said, “I have never seen a convention run this poorly.”

Maddock's ousting also comes after he emailed supporters Sunday morning, encouraging them to volunteer, donate and pray for a slew of Trump-endorsed candidates for the state legislature, including Mick Bricker.

Bricker received a $1,000 contribution from the Maddocks' Political Action Committee, the Maddock Leadership Fund, according to The Detroit News. The Maddocks' daughter, Winsome Maddock, is also the designated treasurer and record-keeper for Bricker's election committee, according to the committee's Statement of Organization.

Bricker is challenging the incumbent State Rep. Greg VanWoerkom.

Maddock has not responded to a request for comment as of Wednesday afternoon, nor has he formally addressed it publicly. On Tuesday night, however, he did share and later defend a Facebook post with a misattributed Mahatma Gandhi quote.

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