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| Original photo by DarKen Photography |
By Brandon Hall
(Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com)
One thing Kevin Cotter said Friday is true: a series of incidents have some House GOP members upset with Cindy Gamrat.
However, they aren't upset over "confidential" information sharing. Here are seven times State Rep. Cindy Gamrat made like Fleetwood Mac and went her own way, bucking the Lansing status quo:
1. When the House GOP Caucus announced their agenda, Cindy Gamrat and Todd Courser were nowhere to be seen. That is because they did not attend the event. Speaker Cotter told Tim Skubick on "Off the Record" that he hadn't even noticed and surmised they had to be "in-district," but other members of the caucus damn well noticed..
2. Gamrat's fierce opposition to Prop 1 is rivaled perhaps only by State Sen. Patrick Colbeck. Both spoke at Paul Mitchell's event on the Capitol lawn Wednesday, mere minutes before the "private caucus meeting" Gamrat attended and then made the Facebook post she was allegedly purged from the caucus for. She has also been immensely vocal in opposition to the $2 billion tax in social media, media appearances, and other events.
3. In what some around Lansing have started to call the "Cindy/Courser Caucus," Gamrat has forged an immensely close working relationship with State Rep. Todd Courser. They aren't "best friends," but they get along well, share staff, partner on legislation, and do events together. Thursday, they'll be in Holland to debate Prop 1. Some members of the caucus are also jealous of the media attention the pair gets.
4. The first act of the "Cindy/Courser Caucus" was the Contract For Liberty, Gamrat and Courser's 10 point plan to advance liberty in Michigan. They released this shortly after New Year's and weeks before the official House GOP plan. Leadership was PISSED they had to answer questions about a plan from two freshman Reps, and were also upset with the amount of earned media it received. They also do not like many of the liberty-oriented bills Gamrat has proposed and plans to draft.
5. Gamrat's RNC run, despite the fact that this has been done before by State Rep. Holy Hughes, is another issue Anti-Gamrat forces worry about. If Gamrat wins and she joins Agema at the RNC, they worry she will not remain neutral on some of Agema's positions as Ronna did, but will support Agema on most issues. It's also a high profile win they absolutely don't want her to have.
6. The "Pscholka wing" of the caucus are the primary legislators who have a problem with Gamrat as referenced throughout this article for the most part, and they are still quite upset over Gamrat's vote for Kevin Cotter as Speaker.
With the caucus deadlocked at 30-30, MIRS has revealed Gamrat, along with fellow Reps Todd Courser and Gary Glenn, met and decided they would vote for Cotter, the more Conservative of the two.The supporters of Al Pscholka, and Pscholka himself, are evidently still quite ticked over all of that...
7. Gamrat could very well be the "next Justin Amash." She is very transparent and shares her thoughts/information on what is happening regularly, more so than any other legislator.
Knowledge is power and Lansing doesn't like Gamrat's accessibility a bit. And with Fred Upton retiring in 2018 or 2020, some very powerful Lansing and D.C. insiders are fiercely determined to keep Cindy Gamrat from replacing him.
Amash defended Gamrat in a tweet Friday, writing:
"it appears a rep can be booted from the Michigan House GOP Caucus for expressing the opinion government is too big."
>>>Read more about the situation below:
Cindy Gamrat "Shocked" By "False" Cotter Confidentiality Claims, Expects To Rejoin Caucus
#StandWithCindy: Justin Amash Defends Cindy Gamrat On Twitter
Source: Planned Parenthood Reference Prompted Gamrat Purge, Cotter Will Invite Her Back
TARGETED? Email Shows Cindy Gamrat's Facebook Post Was At Worst An Honest Mistake
Gamrat Booted Over Facebook Post
Breaking: Cindy Gamrat Kicked Out Of GOP Caucus
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Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.
>>>Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com
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Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.
>>>Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com
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| Photo By Darlene Dowling Thompson |
Excellent work, Brandon. Most of us have no idea of these inside issues. Thanks for getting this out. Could we get it out to the larger press as well?
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