We were surprised and disappointed when a Republican State Legislator said to us: “County Committees are irrelevant and are just a bunch of old ladies.” What!
He made this statement after the conclusion of the Arkansas Republican State Convention. His contempt for county committees was also contempt for the delegates to the State Convention, since it is the counties who elect the delegates to the convention.
Despite our disappointment, we are not going to name him and hope he has changed his mind after an opportunity to cool off. We still need to talk about what he said.
NOT IRRELEVANT
First, any perception that county committees are “irrelevant” is ignorance. Nobody has worked harder for the Republican Party than the county committees. It wasn’t all that long ago that many counties, especially in east Arkansas, had no Republican officeholders in the county. Yet the committees continually recruited candidates and worked hard to get Republicans elected.
Yes, recruiting is not so hard these days, especially since in many areas even Democrats want to run as Republicans to have a chance to hold on to their offices. That doesn’t mean the committees have lost any value.
County committees are the foundation of the Republican Party in Arkansas. Those who organized the party recognized the importance of county committees and gave them the responsibility to elect the delegates to the State Convention, which is the final authority in all party matters.
County committees serve as a place for candidates and the party faithful to meet and discuss issues. During elections, county committees serve as a hub for the distribution of candidate yard signs, and many members have gone door to door for candidates or stood out in cold rain to promote Republican candidates. Many committee members fill in where most needed during campaigns.
We know many Republican legislators who appreciate the work of their county committees and consider them as partners in the conservative movement.
Perhaps some incumbents don’t appreciate their county committees because they have become beholden to lobbyists who throw fundraisers for them and who are backed by big money special interests. (By the way, it is the same lobbyists and special interests who also support incumbent Democrats.)
ATTACK FROM ELITE INSIDERS
Back to the legislator and his disrespect for county committees. His statement came on the heels of elitists inside the party apparatus getting out voted by rank-and-file members at the State Convention in June. It is the elite insiders who think they are “the party,” and who think any county committee they do not control is just a horde of barbarians. It is the elites who are trying to convince your Republican legislators that county committees are irrelevant.
Before the State Convention, elites came up with a plan to muzzle the delegates, who are selected from the counties. They came up with bizarre interpretations of rules intended to prevent delegates from considering anything other than what the elites spoon-fed them in an agenda also set by elites. In making this move they ignored the party rule declaring the State Convention to be the final authority in all party matters. They also ignored an entire chapter of Roberts Rules of Order concerning conventions, which authorizes delegates to modify the agenda instead of being limited by it, and ignored the part of the chapter that allows delegates to consider resolutions even if the resolutions were not approved by the party chair’s handpicked committee.
Despite their brazen action to derail delegates, the elite insiders lost because they were out voted by delegates who respected the authority of the convention.
It is not just about what took place at the State Convention. County committees have been under attack by the elite insiders for years. Here are a few examples.
- Former Governor Asa Hutchinson tried to dictate to county committees who they could and could not invite as a speaker. He didn’t want a rival to be heard.
- Some county committees defended the platform by passing resolutions against a tax increase that was being considered by the legislature. Some party insiders responded by attacking the committees, saying the committees were improperly taking sides between two groups of Republican legislators.
- Two county committees passed resolutions declaring an incumbent, with a terrible voting record, to be “not recommended.” Elites threatened committee officials for taking sides despite the resolution being specifically authorized in the rules. They have twice proposed rules to take away that authority from county committees.
- Earlier this year elites sought to limit the influence of the counties by proposing an increase in the vote needed for delegates to the State Convention to pass rules or platform resolutions.
The elites’ attack on county committees is not over, nor is their attack on the work of State Convention delegates. Don’t let the elites succeed in their effort to divide the party.
