What Just Happened in RPA “District Two” and Why? 

What Just Happened in RPA “District Two” and Why? 

(Note: opinion in plain font italics)  

The Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA) held a two hour State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting on Monday, December 2, 2024, where twenty (20) participating members listened to testimony and voted by Zoom on two separate RPA Rules Review complaints, resulting in: 1) the immediate removal of the Second District chair, Jennifer Lancaster, from her positions throughout the party for a period of twenty (20) years, including her county committee membership, and 2) declaring vacant the long-time active Saline County Republican Committee (also located in District Two) until the 2026 party filing period (February-March 2026). 

The details available in this timeline article will be “overload” for some readers. However, considering the emotions, energy, and wild accusations spinning through social media regarding the RPA and its members, it is hoped that most will make a serious effort to review these facts played out over this RPA “Summer of Discontent” and start to put to rest much of the confusion.   

For those who want to start by understanding the authority given to the RPA State Executive Committee and the required procedure pursuant to a RPA Rules Review of a county or district committee, please read RPA Rules, Article VII—Rules Review, pages 46-47, (attached “article VII pgs 46-47)  

COUNTY COMPLAINT 

On September 9, 2024, a Rules Review County Complaint (County Complaint) was filed with the RPA State Party Chair Joseph Wood, by a member of the Saline County Republican Committee (SCRC), Clint Lancaster (husband and law partner of Jennifer Lancaster), against eight (8) long-time active members and financial supporters of the SCRC, which included all but two members of the SCRC Executive Committee. 

The County Complaint purports to be signed by forty-five (45) “active” SCRC members. Pursuant to the Lancaster complaint, it is based on RPA Rule Article II, Section 11(A)—which provides for a complaint and remedial action when there is “evidence of failure within a County Committee to observe the RPA Rules and/or the local county’s rules”.  

The County Complaint included numerous charges against each person (most of which appear to be objections to alleged behavior.)  This County Complaint asked for six (6) strong sanctions against the SCRC executive officers, including the Chairman, 1st Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, State Committeewoman, 3rd Vice Chair, District Committeeman, and a Justice of the Peace elect.  The last three of the six sanctions included these most long-lasting:  (see attached “B-County Complaint”)  

“E.  Ban these people from holding any positions, leadership or otherwise, in the Party for a period of twenty (20) years; 

“F.  Ban these individuals from membership to this, or any other, county committee for a period of ten (10) years; and 

“G.  Direct and order that the newly formed leadership of the county committee bring a motion to the body to consider issuing a public apology for the actions of the committee.”  

An aggressive response was filed by the eight (8) members of the SCRC charged by Lancaster, which included multiple support statements from third parties within and outside Saline County.  The responses were primarily leveled against both Jennifer and Clint Lancaster, personally, as individuals demanding control of the SCRC with compliance by all members, and the County Complaint being retaliation for individual resistance. (See attached “C-Response to County Complaint”) 

Within the time required, pursuant to RPA Rules Article VII, §1(B), Chairman Wood appointed the following five persons to the County Review Committee:  Jennifer Lancaster (due to her position under the Rules as Second District Chair), Sharon Wright, Steve Smith, Diana Harton, and Bilenda Harris-Ritter.  Likewise, following the Rules, the County Review Committee voted not to hold “a hearing”. 

On October 3, 2024, the County Review Committee voted 4-0 for Jennifer Lancaster (as an involved member of SCRC and wife and law partner of the complainant, Clint Lancaster) to recuse from the County Review Committee due to her conflict of interest.  Jennifer Lancaster chose not to recuse.  (One would assume by her continued presence on this committee that her version of the facts was given more weight or examination by other committee members than those of the accused.)  

On November 7, 2024, Bilenda Harris-Ritter submitted a report to the County Review Committee, which was accepted by three of the five members.  On November 7 (the same day the County Review Committee issued its findings and recommendations), Clint Lancaster asked to withdraw his complaint. At that point, Chairman Joseph Wood requested that the County Review Committee vote on whether to allow the complaint to be withdrawn, and the vote was that it would not be allowed to be withdrawn.   

At 10 PM on Saturday, November 9, 2024, Jennifer Lancaster emailed her own report (mostly adopting the requests made by her husband’s complaint) to the County Review Committee. (See attached “D-JL County Committee Report”.)  This report was not reviewed by the committee members ahead of time; and Harton, Harris-Ritter, and Wright objected to its being considered. Lancaster did send out an undated report by email to the entire SEC on November 30.   

On November 11, 2024, the County Review Committee sent their final report with recommendations to Chairman Wood which reflected a passing vote of three. (See attached “E-Recommendations re: County Complaint”) 

DISTRICT COMPLAINT 

On September 10, 2024, a Rules Review District Complaint (District Complaint) was filed with RPA State Party Chair Joseph Wood, against Second District Chair Jennifer Lancaster.  

The District Complaint purports to be signed by at least fifty-two (52) “active” District Two (D2) members.  These D2 members signing this complaint asked Chairman Wood to keep their names confidential in order to avoid retaliation from the Lancasters and their supporters (with alleged active retaliation being perpetrated against D2 members who voiced opposition to the Lancasters’ involvement in the SCRC and D2 chaos of September 5 and 7, respectively.)  It appears to date those names have been kept confidential by Chairman Wood per their request.     

The District Complaint included five (5) specific charges (most of which appear to be based upon actions taken and words spoken by Lancaster as Second District Chair) the complainants considered activity defined as “working against the party.”   The five charges within the District Complaint specifically included:   

“1. As State Convention Chair, Risking the State Convention US Presidential and US Vice Presidential Electors;  

“2. Wrongful Credentialing Second District Committee Members during a D2 meeting; 

“3. Personal Attacks Against Committee Members (D2 and across the state); 

“4. Illegitimate Meetings per RPA Rules within her own Saline County Republican Committee; 

“5. Hostility & Division (within her SCRC, D2, and across the state.)” 

(Opinion: One point of irony should be noted.  It is more likely than not that those fifty-two (52) plus D2 members signing this District Complaint were the same people who supported and voted for Jennifer Lancaster as 2024 State Convention chair only three months earlier.) 

The District Complaint requested that Jennifer Lancaster be removed as Second District Chair and be banned from holding any position within the RPA, including County Committee Member for a period of time determined appropriate by the SEC, and that retaliatory actions led by Lancaster against all district and county committee members be reversed. (see attached “F-District Complaint”)

A detailed response to the District Complaint was filed by Jennifer Lancaster, which also included multiple support statements from third parties within and outside of Saline County.  Lancaster denied the charges and also alleged that persons outside D2 had signed the District Complaint, leaving a shortfall of the required number of D2 members to make the charge. The third-party responses were primarily in support of all actions taken by Lancaster and applauding her positive attributes as well as repeating accusations against the eight (8) members of the SCRC involved in Clint Lancaster’s complaint.  (See attached “G-JL-Response to District Complaint”) 

Pursuant to RPA Rules Article VII, §1(B), Chairman Wood appointed the following five persons to the District Review Committee:  Sarah Dunklin (due to her position under the Rules as 1st District Chair), Susan Gessler (3rd District Chair), Diana Lowe (Miller County Chair), Barbara Tillman (3rd District Representative), and Bilenda Harris-Ritter (Rules Committee Chair).  Likewise, following the Rules, the District Review Committee voted not to hold “a hearing”.   

Unlike the County Review Committee, the District Review Committee voted to add two more charges (based upon “working against the party”) to the original five charges in the District Complaint.  The sixth “added” charge was based upon Lancaster’s refusal to recuse from the County Review Committee which heard Lancaster’s husband’s complaint filed September 9, 2024.   

The seventh charge added by the District Review Committee was based upon Lancaster being a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit brought by twenty-two (22) (as a representative group) 2024 State Convention delegates against the State Party Chair and others due to alleged unauthorized actions taken solely by the State Executive Committee on July 25, 2024, when they singularly declared “null and void” rules and platform changes passed at the 2024 RPA State Convention.  (Under RPA Rules, the State Convention is the final authority regarding party matters.) These Rules changes (to which the SEC primarily objected) closed the Republican primaries and required ex-officio elected officials to be elected to the state committee like other state committee members in order to have a vote (bringing Arkansas in line with the rule in most other states as well as the Republican National Committee).  

This seventh charge of “working against the party” due to being a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit as the 2024 RPA Convention chair was added by the District Review Committee to the complaint.*

Opinion:  

1. Again, we must stop here and point out the rich irony of the “seventh charge” irresistibly added by the “very biased” District Review Committee.   They had just voted to add a sixth charge against Lancaster for “working against the party” because she refused to recuse from a case where she was clearly biased.  That makes sense to most of us familiar with fairness and the judicial system.  
2. But then these biased district committee members (who serve on the SEC and being the actual complainant (Barbara Tillman) who filed the complaint against the 2024 State Convention and the author of the advisory opinion (Bilenda Harris-Ritter) which declared, in her opinion as the Rules Chairman, that the actions of the 2024 State Convention (the highest authority in the RPA) were “null and void”), charge Lancaster with “working against the party” because she rightly joined a lawsuit as the 2024 State Convention chair to set aside the overreach committed by these same individual committee members through their independent individual actions and then their own votes on the State Executive Committee.  
   
3. When these district committee members declare such a move by State Convention delegates and its chairman, Lancaster, to ask a court of law to right the wrong they believe done within its party (rules) by those exercising overreach—for these biased committee members to declare that act as “working against the party”—and do not see or consider their own bias in doing so, it sadly pours doubt and skepticism on all other actions and decisions made by this District Review Committee. 
4. It is too bad that these district committee members can see bias and bad actions taken by others but not in their own biased acts.  Or better said—they see bad actions taken by others and act to correct them.  And then they declare all who challenge their own actions as illegal and throw their own accusers out for making such a challenge.   
5. It is very unfortunate for us all that the District Review Committee could not resist the impulse to defend their own prior alleged bad actions by including this seventh charge.  As they say—“you can’t make this stuff up!”. 

The District Review Committee sent their final report with recommendations to the State Party Chair with a passing vote of 5 to 0, except as it related to the seventh charge mentioned above, with it receiving only 4 votes.  (See attached “H-Recommendations re- District Complaint”) 

***** 

Back to December 2, 2024, and actions taken by the State Executive Committee (SEC): 

District Complaint: 

On December 2, 2024, in a vote of 19 to 1, the RPA State Executive Committee (SEC) voted to ban Second District Chair Jennifer Lancaster from membership in the Republican Party of Arkansas. 

The SEC vote passed all recommendations made by the Rules Review District Committee, which include the following: 

1. Jennifer Lancaster be banned from membership in the Republican Party of Arkansas for twenty (20) years. 
2. Jennifer Lancaster immediately is removed from any and all positions she currently holds at the State, District, and County levels and be banned from running for any office within the Republican Party of Arkansas for twenty (20) years. 
3. We recommend that Jennifer Lancaster be removed from membership and any offices held in all Republican affiliated organizations including, but not limited to, the Arkansas Federation of Republican Women and the Arkansas Chapter of the Republican National Lawyers Association.  
4. If Jennifer Lancaster runs for office as a Republican, she will receive a “DO NOT RECOMMEND” rating from the Republican Party.  

In addition to passing those recommendations, the SEC voted that Lancaster may not carry or vote with a proxy.  However, her status as a 2024 Presidential Elector (elected during the 2024 State Convention and affirmed by a statutory re-election held in September to rectify confusion over the Republican US Presidential Electors.) 

Opinion:  

1. Another irony must be pointed out here in that the SEC has actively fought for several years to prevent County Committees from using their right under the RPA Rules to declare a Republican candidate as one they “Do Not Recommend.”  The very ones who would remove that power from the County Committees appear to have no problem using the power themselves –as done on December 2, 2024.
2. Followers of Conduit (friends and foe) may be asking at this point our opinion regarding the actions taken on December 2, 2024, against Jennifer Lancaster.

• • Were the sanctions too harsh? Yes!

• • Could the sanctions have been delivered with less zeal and bias? Yes!

• • Are the sanctions understandable under the circumstances and even arguably deserved? Possibly!

3. Among all the opinions put in writing and attached to this article, there was one letter which seemed to capture our own personal experience.  (See “I-Letter from SCRC Member”.) It is not with pride that we draw attention to this letter but with sadness.  And sadness does not give us the right to keep our friends (or foes) in the dark concerning our personal experiences in this matter.
4. This harsh sanction should be the line in the sand, where we all stop, pray for ourselves and each other, consider what is good for our “brother”, and work for freedom for the next generation– rather than our own personal power and affluence.

County Complaint: 

On December 2, 2024, in a vote of 16 to 3 (one member apparently abstaining), the RPA State Executive Committee (SEC) voted that the Saline County Republican Committee (SCRC) be declared vacant, as recommended by the Rules Review County Committee and the vacancy be in effect for the period of time from the date of the Executive Committee vote (December 2, 2024) until the next party filing period which starts the last week in February 2026 (See Ark. Code § 7-7-203(c)(1)(A), Act 462 of 2023.)  

In addition, the SEC ruled that the current SCRC Executive Committee members cannot run for positions on the county executive committee when it is reconstituted.

Additionally, (in a twist of irony), Drew Martin (who was a member of Saline County Republican Committee on December 2, 2024) was appointed as Second District Vice Chair.  Martin will conduct the D2 elections in February 2025.   

Summary Opinion:  To read this summary transcript of these two sad complaints leaves one wondering, “What will happen with the Republican Party of Arkansas?”  It is obvious that there are bad actors on all sides and plenty of blame across the board.  On December 7, 2024, there will be an RPA State Committee meeting where those declared to have “no vote” by the 2024 State Convention (final authority regarding party matters) will be voting.  They will participate in electing a new State Party Chair and other Executive Officers.  These officers will likely be considered illegitimate by the vast majority of 2024 State Convention Delegates who worked tirelessly for more than two years to improve the RPA and give the party back to those for which it is intended.  We see this action happening across our country and see that the “people” won the U.S. Presidential election against money and power.  We hope that the people will not give up and abandon the fight for freedom and representative government and find a way to continue working with those they disagree in order to find a path forward together for the benefit of us all. 

What is your next step? 

*revised 6:50pm