Pete Hoekstra
Pete Hoekstra is a former member of the U.S. House, where he served for 18 years, and is a former Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Donald Trump (R) announced on November 20, 2024, that he intended to nominate Hoekstra as U.S. ambassador to Canada in his second presidential administration.[1]
On January 20, 2024, Hoekstra was elected by a group of Michigan Republicans to serve as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. On February 14, 2024, the executive committee of the Republican National Committee voted unanimously to officially recognize Hoekstra as chair.[2] Hoekstra served as chairman through the 2024 election cycle.[3]
During the period of transition between the Obama and Trump administrations, Hoekstra was reported to be in consideration for a high-level appointment in the Trump administration. The New York Times had reported that Hoekstra was being considered for an intelligence position.[4]
In 2012, Hoekstra was a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Michigan. Hoekstra was a Republican candidate for the Michigan 2010 gubernatorial elections. He lost the Republican bid to Rick Snyder in the August 3 primary along with Mike Cox, Tom George and Mike Bouchard.
Biography
Immigration
Pete Hoekstra was born in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. His family immigrated to the U.S. in 1956, when he was three years old. He grew up in Michigan.[5]
College years
Hoekstra graduated in 1975 from Hope College in Holland with a bachelor's in political science. He also earned his master's in business administration from the University of Michigan in 1977.[6][5][7]
Professional career
Beginning in 1977, Hoekstra spent 15 years with the furniture firm Herman Miller.[5][6] He was based in Zeeland, Michigan, and was the vice president of marketing.[5]
Hoekstra is a registered lobbyist, according to CNN.[8]
Elections
2012
Hoekstra ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. Senate, representing Michigan.[9] He defeated Clark Durant, Gary Glenn, and Randy Hekman in the Republican primary on August 7, 2012. He faced incumbent Debbie Stabenow (D), Scotty Boman (L), Harley Mikkelson (G), Richard Matkin (UST), and John Litle (NLP) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[10] Hoekstra lost to incumbent Debbie Stabenow.[11]
2010
| 2010 Race for Governor - Republican Primary[12] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Mike Bouchard (R) | 12.16% | |||
| Mike Cox (R) | 22.96% | |||
| Tom George (R) | 1.62% | |||
| Pete Hoekstra (R) | 26.84% | |||
 Rick Snyder (R)
|
36.42% | |||
| Total votes | 1,047,048 | |||
Campaign finance summary
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2016 Republican National Convention
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2016
Hoekstra was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Michigan. Hoekstra was one of 17 delegates from Michigan bound by state party rules to support John Kasich at the convention.[13] Kasich suspended his campaign on May 4, 2016. At the time, he had approximately 156 bound delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates.
Delegate rules
Delegates from Michigan to the Republican National Convention were elected at district conventions and at the state convention in April 2016. Michigan delegates were allowed to list their preferred candidate on their presidential preference form. 2016 Michigan GOP bylaws stipulate that delegates to the national convention were bound on the first ballot. Delegates bound to a particular candidate became unbound if that candidate publicly withdrew from the race, suspended his or her campaign, endorsed another candidate, or sought the nomination of a different party for any office.
Michigan primary results
- See also: Presidential election in Michigan, 2016
| Michigan Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
| Jeb Bush | 0.8% | 10,685 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 1.6% | 21,349 | 0 | |
| Chris Christie | 0.2% | 3,116 | 0 | |
| Ted Cruz | 24.7% | 326,617 | 17 | |
| Carly Fiorina | 0.1% | 1,415 | 0 | |
| Lindsey Graham | 0% | 438 | 0 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 0.2% | 2,603 | 0 | |
| John Kasich | 24.3% | 321,115 | 17 | |
| George Pataki | 0% | 591 | 0 | |
| Rand Paul | 0.3% | 3,774 | 0 | |
| Marco Rubio | 9.3% | 123,587 | 0 | |
| Rick Santorum | 0.1% | 1,722 | 0 | |
 Donald Trump |
36.5% | 483,753 | 25 | |
| Other | 1.7% | 22,824 | 0 | |
| Totals | 1,323,589 | 59 | ||
| Source: CNN and Michigan Secretary of State | ||||
Delegate allocation
Michigan had 59 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 42 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's 14 congressional districts). District delegates were allocated proportionally in accordance with the statewide vote; a candidate had to win at least 15% of the statewide vote in order to be eligible to receive any district delegates.[14][15]
Of the remaining 17 delegates, 14 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated proportionally in accordance with the statewide vote; a candidate had to win at least 15% of the statewide vote in order to be eligible to receive any of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention.[14][15]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Hoekstra has been married to his wife, Diane, for over thirty years. They live in Holland, Mich.[16]
Noteworthy events
Leadership challenge within Republican Party of Michigan (2024)
On January 6, 2024, a vote was held in Oakland County, Michigan to remove Kristina Karamo as chairwoman of the Republican Party of Michigan. Karamo denied the legitimacy of the vote and claimed that she was still chairwoman. "Their performance has no legal standing," Karamo said. "I am still chair of the Michigan Republican Party." [17]
On January 20, 2024, the faction of the Republican Party of Michigan that removed Karamo selected Hoekstra as its new leader.
“We will go to the (Republican National Committee), present the work that happened here today and say we are the legitimate Republican Party in Michigan, “ Hoekstra said after the January 20 vote was held. [18]
On February 14, 2024, the executive committee of the Republican National Committee voted unanimously to official recognize Hoekstra as Michigan’s GOP chair. Karamo rejected the RNC’s decision, indicating in an email from the state’s official Michigan GOP account that she will continue to lead the party. [19]
On February 27, 2024, Kent County Circuit Judge J. Joseph Rossi issued an injunction barring Karamo from conducting business as party chair. [20]
See also
External links
- Official Facebook
- Official Twitter
- Official Flickr
- Official YouTube Channel
- Hoekstraforsenate.com 2012 Campaign website
The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine was used to recall this version of the website from August 5, 2010.
Footnotes
- ↑ 4President, "President Donald J. Trump Nominates Former Congressman, Pete Hoekstra, as United States Ambassador to Canada," November 20, 2024
- ↑ Click on Detroit, "Karamo vs. Hoekstra: Who is the actual chair of Michigan’s Republican Party?” February 16, 2024
- ↑ Michigan Public, "Jim Runestad wins MIGOP chair race," February 22, 2025
- ↑ The New York Times, "Donald Trump Is Picking His Cabinet. Here’s a Shortlist." November 16, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Politico, "Rep. Pete Hoekstra," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 LinkedIn, "Pete Hoekstra," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Pete Spend It Not, "Meet Pete" May 30, 2012
- ↑ CNN, "Potential Trump CIA director opens door to waterboarding," November 17, 2016
- ↑ The Grand Rapids Press, "U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow beats Republican Pete Hoekstra by 10 points, says Dem-sponsored poll," accessed January 5, 2012
- ↑ Associated Press primary results
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Michigan"
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Unofficial Primary 2010 Election Results, Governor," accessed August 4, 2010
- ↑ MLive.com, "See who Michigan Republicans are sending to support Donald Trump at the national convention," April 10, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
- ↑ Official Campaign Site, "Meet Pete," accessed February 11, 2012
- ↑ ‘’The Detroit News’', "Republicans vote to oust Karamo as state party chair; she does not recognize their authority," January 6, 2024
- ↑ ‘’Bridge Michigan’', "Michigan GOP faction sues Karamo, picks Hoekstra to replace her," January 20, 2024
- ↑ ‘’Click on Detroit’', "Karamo vs. Hoekstra: Who is the actual chair of Michigan’s Republican Party?” February 16, 2024
- ↑ ‘’Judge affirms removal of Karamo as Michigan GOP chair," February 27, 2024
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