Rank MI Vote says Matt Maddock threatened volunteers at Michigan GOP endorsement convention

The ballot committee behind a stalled effort to bring ranked choice voting to Michigan said Tuesday that it was working as a vendor last weekend at the state Republican Party endorsement convention in Novi, but it had to be escorted off the property for its own safety after state Rep. Matt Maddock of Milford harassed and threatened the committee’s volunteers.

Rank MI Vote claimed in a news release that they were forced to vacate the premises due to Maddock’s harassment, which reportedly included threats of physical violence and an allegation that Maddock whipped up a group of people to continue the harassment.

“Ranked Choice Voting is a nonpartisan reform that gives more choice and more voice to all voters,” said Pat Zabawa, Executive Director of Rank MI Vote, in a news release.

Zabawa noted that the Republican Party’s convention nominating process is similar to ranked choice voting in that it requires rounds of voting until a candidate with the support of a majority of delegates is found. 

“We find voters of all political identities are interested in ensuring our democracy reflects the will of the voters, but we will also stand with our volunteers and keep them out of harm’s way,” Zabawa said.

Messages seeking comment from the party’s communications staff and Maddock were not returned at the time of publication.

However, Maddock posted a video of his initial encounter with the group on X Tuesday afternoon, saying “Rigged choice voting communists snuck into the convention. They changed their name to ‘instant runoff voting’ but it’s still the same scam to supercharge voter fraud. These kommies have endless cash so fight them every chance u get or they will make cheating impossible to detect.”

Rigged choice voting communists snuck into the convention. They changed their name to “instant runoff voting” but it’s still the same scam to supercharge voter fraud. These kommies have endless cash so fight them every chance u get or they will make cheating impossible to detect. pic.twitter.com/iLrXPprV9g

— Matt Maddock (@matthewmaddock) March 31, 2026

The group claimed that, while it was working the convention in the vendor area in Novi’s Vibe Showplace, Maddock approached the booth at around 11:40 a.m. He allegedly made derogatory remarks, including calling volunteers “communists,” which is seen on the video Maddock posted.

About 10 minutes later, the committee claimed that Maddock placed a chair directly in front of the table to heckle anyone who passed by and actively blocked the party’s delegates from speaking to Rank MI Vote staff. Delegates were there to select the MIGOP’s candidates for various offices in the November election.

Around noon, the committee said that the convention’s security began monitoring the situation and removed Maddock’s chair. Volunteers then created a physical barrier around Maddock to block him from being near the table. A crowd formed but Maddock and the crowd thinned out.

At around 1:15 p.m., the committee said that Maddock returned to their area with a group of about 20 people. Maddock allegedly told one of the committee’s volunteers that, if they were in the parking lot, he would be apt to “kick your ass.”

Maddock’s crowd then began surrounding his supporters and calling them communists, and shouting “shame.” Security was said to have returned at that point.

The committee said that 30 minutes later, at the request of party leadership, security apologized but requested that the committee leave for its workers’ own safety. Officers then escorted the committee from the premises through a rear exit to avoid additional harassment.

Jennifer Umphress, a conservative working group director for Rank MI Vote, said that party Chairman Jim Runestad and his team were “gracious and attempted to intervene to keep us safe.”

“We are a nonpartisan group working to meet voters everywhere they are, including all parties’ nominating conventions,” Umphress said in a statement. “We were having a productive day meeting like-minded, politically engaged convention attendees until Rep. Maddock chose to bully our volunteers and anyone who stopped to speak with us.”