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Ronald Weiser

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Ron Weiser
Chair of the Michigan Republican Party
In office
February 6, 2021 – February 18, 2023
Preceded byLaura Cox
Succeeded byKristina Karamo
In office
February 11, 2017 – February 23, 2019
Preceded byRonna McDaniel
Succeeded byLaura Cox
In office
February 1, 2009 – January 29, 2011
Preceded bySaul Anuzis
Succeeded byBobby Schostak
Member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2017
Preceded byLaurence Deitch
United States Ambassador to Slovakia
In office
December 5, 2001 – December 19, 2004
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byCarl Spielvogel
Succeeded bySkip Vallee
Personal details
Born (1945-07-07) July 7, 1945 (age 79)
South Bend, Indiana, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseEileen Weiser (m. 1983-2021)
Children3
EducationUniversity of Michigan (BA)

Ronald N. Weiser (born July 7, 1945) is an American businessman and Republican Party donor and financier. Weiser founded a real estate company. He held fundraising roles for the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain. He was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 2009–2011, 2017–2019, and 2021–2023. He was U.S. ambassador to Slovakia during Bush's first term (2001–2004), and was elected to the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan in 2016.

Early life, education and real estate career

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Weiser was born in South Bend, Indiana on July 7, 1945. He graduated in 1966 from the School of Business at University of Michigan.

In 1968, Weiser founded the real estate company McKinley Associates Inc., which is based in Ann Arbor.[1] He was its chairman and chief executive officer until 2001, when he retired from the role upon being confirmed as ambassador to Slovakia. In 2016, McKinley reportedly had $500 million in annual revenue, and had a real estate portfolio valued at $4.6 billion.[2]

University of Michigan

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In 2014, Weiser unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan.[3][4] He was elected to the Board of Regents in 2016, defeating incumbent Laurence Deitch.[5] Weiser was, at the time of his election, the only Republican on the board.[6] In 2020, Weiser was the sole regent to vote against a proposal to allow University of Michigan employees to establish recognized bargaining units by card check (i.e., without formal elections); the proposal passed 6–1.[7] His term expires on January 1, 2025.[8]

By June 2020, Weiser and his wife had donated more than $100 million to the University of Michigan.[9] He announced donations of $50 million in 2015,[10][11] $10 million in 2018,[9] $10 million in February 2020,[9] and $30 million in June 2020.[9]

The relationship between Weiser's ownership of an Ann Arbor real-estate company, and his roles on the Board of Regents and as a major donor, became controversial during arguments over whether to re-open the university during the COVID-19 pandemic.[12][13]

Republican Party

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Weiser at the 2010 Michigan Republican State Convention
Weiser and other state party chairs meet with President Donald Trump in 2017.

Weiser is a major Republican financier and one of Michigan's biggest political donors.[14] He held fundraising roles for the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush and the 2008 presidential campaign of John McCain.[2][15][16][17] He was Ambassador to Slovakia under President George W. Bush from December 5, 2001 to December 19, 2004.[18][19]

Weiser was Michigan Republican State Finance Chair in 2005 to 2006.[15] He first became chairman of the Michigan Republican Party in 2009, when he ran unopposed.[20] He held the position from 2009 to 2011,[21][22] and again from 2017 to 2019.[22] Weiser played a key role in the passage of "right-to-work law" legislation enacted by the Michigan Legislature.[6] In a 2019 editorial, the Detroit News credited Weiser as the architect of "a campaign strategy and a fundraising machine that paved the way for a series of Republican victories" in Michigan, allowing the Republicans to hold complete control of the state government for eight years, even though the state usually leans Democratic.[6] In 2021, Weiser defeated the incumbent chair, Laura Cox, amid an acrimonious internal party feud sparked by Cox's allegations that Weiser was involved in two payoff schemes. Weiser denied the allegation made by Cox.[23]

In February 2011 he was appointed as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC)'s National Finance Transition Committee. He was the RNC's National Finance Chair from April 2011 to February 2013.

Weiser was selected in 2016 to lead the Republican National Committee's fundraising efforts for Donald Trump.[21] Weiser donated $50,000 to The MRP Legal Expense Trust Fund, which helped to cover Vice President Mike Pence's legal bills generated during the Mueller investigation.[24] Weiser was a Michigan delegate to the 2020 Republican National Convention; the 73-member Michigan delegation was unanimously for Trump.[25] In the 2020 election cycle, Weiser and his wife gave $1.6 million to Republican causes, including nearly $168,000 to support Republican state House candidates.[14]

In March 2021 Weiser came under criticism after he was filmed in a speech to a Republican club calling three Democratic state officials — Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson — "witches" who were ready to be "burned at the stake" in the next election. When asked how to get rid of Republican congressmen Fred Upton and Peter Meijer, who have been widely vilified because they voted to impeach Trump, Weiser replied that "other than assassination," the only way to remove them is to vote them out.[26] After the remarks were publicized, causing an uproar, Weiser said, "I apologize to those I offended for the flippant analogy about three women who are elected officials and for the off-hand comments about two other leaders."[27] He claimed that he had never advocated for violence and added, "While I will always fight for the people and policies I believe in, I pledge to be part of a respectful political dialogue going forward."[27]

University of Michigan Board of Regents chair Denise Ilitch introduced a resolution condemning Weiser's statement and called him to resign from the board; the resolution passed 5–0 at the April 2, 2021 meeting, with Weiser and Sarah Hubbard abstaining, and one regent absent.[28] Ilitch added that "It has become clear that serving as chair of a statewide political party is simply not compatible with serving on this board."[28] Weiser, however, refused to resign, saying, "I regret my poorly chosen words that were offhand remarks made at a private Republican Party meeting" but that "I will not be cancelled."[28]

In 2021, Weiser was the primary contributor of a petition campaign to impose new voter ID requirements in Michigan. Weiser’s efforts followed the previous year’s controversial presidential election, despite there being no evidence of widespread voter fraud in that election.[29]

Personal life

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Weiser married Eileen in 1983, and was divorced in 2021. He lives in Ann Arbor.

Weiser is on the Atlantic Council's Board of Directors.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "GOP operative Ron Weiser of Ann Arbor in hot water over remarks about Detroit voters". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  2. ^ a b Pinho, Kirk (July 17, 2016). "From real estate to Republican politics: Now among GOP's elite fundraisers, 'relentless' Ron Weiser puts the party first". Crain's Detroit Business.
  3. ^ Metwally, Camy (February 11, 2016). "Former U.S. ambassador announces candidacy for regent". Michigan Daily.
  4. ^ Ruberg, Emma; Duong, Francesca (February 4, 2021). "U-M Regent Ron Weiser denies accusations of undisclosed payments ahead of election for MI GOP chair". Michigan Daily.
  5. ^ Akhtar, Allana (November 9, 2016). "Weiser unseats Deitch on Board of Regents, Ilitch retains position". Michigan Daily.
  6. ^ a b c Editorial: Weiser served the GOP well, The Detroit News (February 27, 2019).
  7. ^ Steve Marowski, University of Michigan employees can form bargaining units without formal elections, regents decide, MLive (June 25, 2020).
  8. ^ "Ron Weiser". Board of Regents of the University of Michigan.
  9. ^ a b c d Slagter, Martin (June 15, 2020). "University of Michigan regent, wife give $30-million gift toward diabetes therapies". MLive.
  10. ^ "Weisers' $50 Million Gift Impacts Six University of Michigan Units" (Press release). December 18, 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-03-27. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  11. ^ "McKinley founder Ron Weiser donates $50 million to University of Michigan". MLive.com. December 19, 2014.
  12. ^ "Op-Ed: The University's summer of lies". The Michigan Daily. August 27, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  13. ^ Burke, Lilah (September 4, 2020). "Consultation Theater". Inside Higher Ed. Mark Belles. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  14. ^ a b Craig Mauger, Michigan's biggest political spenders? The DeVos family and nine others, Detroit News (December 22, 2020).
  15. ^ a b "Ronald Weiser". Council of American Ambassadors. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  16. ^ Jeffrey McCracken, [1], Crain's Detroit Business (February 28, 2000).
  17. ^ Glenn Frankel, The McCain Makeover Does the veteran Republican rebel really mean all those nice things he's saying about George W. Bush?, Washington Post (August 27, 2006).
  18. ^ PN796 — Ronald Weiser — Department of State: 107th Congress (2001-2002), Congress.gov.
  19. ^ Chiefs of Mission for Slovakia, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State.
  20. ^ "Ann Arbor businessman Ron Weiser elected state GOP party chairman". Mlive.com. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  21. ^ a b Gibbons, Lauren (25 May 2016). "Michigan Republican Ron Weiser to assist with Trump fundraising efforts". Mlive.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  22. ^ a b Malachi Barrett, Trump keeps pushing election conspiracies, but it's not too late for Republicans to end 'the big lie', MLive (March 8, 2021).
  23. ^ Grant Hermes & Dane Kelly, Michigan GOP elects new leadership amid accusations of corruption, WDIV (February 11, 2021).
  24. ^ Lee, Michelle Ye Hee (June 30, 2020). "A dozen donors paid nearly $480,000 in legal fees for Pence in Mueller inquiry, new filing shows". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2020-07-02.
  25. ^ Malachi Barrett, Michigan's Republican delegates cast votes to re-nominate President Donald Trump at RNC, MLive (August 24, 2020).
  26. ^ Knowles, Hannah (March 27, 2021). "Michigan GOP leader calls top Democrats 'witches,' jokes about assassination of Republicans". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  27. ^ a b Dave Boucher & David Jesse, GOP chairman issues apology as heat rises after 'burning at the stake' comments, Detroit Free Press (March 27, 2021).
  28. ^ a b c Steve Marowski, Ron Weiser says he 'will not be canceled' after regents pass resolution for his resignation, MLive (April 2, 2021).
  29. ^ Mauger, Craig. "Michigan GOP Chairman Ron Weiser funding voter ID campaign". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  30. ^ "Board of Directors". Atlantic Council. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Slovakia
2001–2004 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chair of the Michigan Republican Party
2009–2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Michigan Republican Party
2017–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Michigan Republican Party
2021–2023 		Succeeded by
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