Vol. 5, No. 19
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August 1, 2008
Nevada's Online State News Journal-- Serving Informed Nevadans Since 2003
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COPYWRITING
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Major Break In GOP,
Old Guard vs. Young Turks
There May Be Two Sets Of
Nevada Delegates To National
The schism started long ago when young members of the Republican party found that they were not being heard by the “establishment” members of the party. It came to a head during the April State Convention when Ron Paul supporters forced a rules change that enabled the Young Turks to get many of their representatives named as delegates to the national convention in Minnesota. Rather than accept defeat, the old guard simply called a halt to the proceedings.
Among the young leaders is Mike Weber, a candidate for Assembly District 32 and Wayne Terhune, who spearheaded the campaign for a special reconvening of the party convention, which was held on June 28. Weber is an outspoken member of the party who believes strongly in rules of order and proper leadership by those in charge. Following notification that the state party leaders would not accept the decisions made at the June 28 confab, and following disclosure that few were willing to attend a later convention call made by the party, the party opted to “appoint” representatives to the national convention. Weber says this disenfranchises “ordinary Nevada Republicans.”
He told The Nevada Observer, “Most Republicans are getting fed up with party leaders because of underhanded tactics instead of principled leadership. Nearly two-thirds of the state delegates voted for an open process. The announcement that national delegates will be appointed by a small group behind closed doors only reinforces this distrust and disdain.” Weber plans to challenge the decision by the state party “all the way to the national convention.”
In the meantime, those elected as delegates at the June 28 convention filed a complaint in the Second Judicial District Court, contending that the Nevada Republican Executive Committee’s decision to appoint national delegates is in violation of state law. They say “state delegates have been deprived of their ability to select national delegates at a convention,” as is specified in NRS 293. On July 25, District Judge Jerry Polaha disagreed and ruled against the breakaway faction. “It’s very disappointing,” said Wayne Terhune, a Washoe County Republican activist.
Terhune said, “They (the party) shut down the Convention in April, and now they aren’t giving delegates a chance to have their voices heard. This is a violation of the law.” The Nevada Revised Statutes says, “In addition to such powers granted it, the state convention shall select the necessary delegates and alternates to the national convention of the party”. The complaint was been filed by Reno attorney Mark Goodman on behalf of several Nevada State Republican delegates. The hearing before Polaha was very short.
Terhune said the next step is to appeal to the Republican National Convention’s Committee on Contests, and Weber is likely to organize that appeal. “Our fight is to represent the delegates of the State Convention, and that isn’t over yet,” Terhune said.
In April, at the original Republican State Convention, the event chairman, Senator Bob Beers, at the behest of the party’s old line leadership, simply called a halt to the proceedings and sent everyone home. Terhune, Weber, and many others reconvened the convention, with delegates from the original convention on June 28, and it is believed at this time that they had a quorum, and finished the party’s business, including the naming of delegates to the national convention. There were some 1400 delegates at the April convention. District Judge Polaha said the June 28 convening was not a legitimate continuation of the state convention.
“Over a thousand delegates attended the convention in April, and the State Executive party officials are attempting to silence all of them,” Terhune stated. “My Republican party states that it is the party of law and order. Why has the executive committee of the state party decided to break the law?”
At the April convention, many of the delegates were favoring the campaign of Ron Paul, and Dr. Paul spoke as did Mitt Romney who had won the Republican caucus in January. It was the Paul faction, mostly young aggressive men and women that wrested control from the set in stone leadership and forced rules changes that allowed for nominating delegates from the floor. Weber, sometimes referred to as Mr. Rules, demanded that Robert’s Rules of Order be followed, to the consternation of Beers.
Following the announcement that delegates would be appointed, Weber said, “True Republican leadership is about defending the rights of the little guy. Denying the rights of ordinary Republicans to participate in the selection of our national Republican Presidential nominee is an intolerable violation of Republican rules and principles. If this injustice is allowed to stand, Republican principles are dead in the Nevada Republican Party. This action by a small group of “Country Club” Republicans to usurp authority and appoint their friends behind closed doors is wrong.”
Weber has set aside his campaign for assembly in order to pursue correcting what he considers a major wrong being perpetrated by the party’s leadership. “This is more important than my legislative campaign at the moment. This is about the basic principles that all Republican candidates should be standing for.” He called the actions by Beers and the party leaders arrogant, and that delegates to the April convention were treated like second class citizens “by locking them out of participating in the delegate selection process.”
Sue Lowden is the Nevada Republican Party Chairwoman and she has not returned phone calls. Along with the court action discussed above, the breakaway faction is also appealing the decision to appoint delegates directly to the Republican National Committee (RNC). In most cases, the RNC leaves such matters in the hands of the local parties, thus it could be that a Nevada district court will make the final decision.
During the January Republican caucus, Mitt Romney got the most support with Ron Paul coming in second, and John McCain third. The party leadership wanted complete support for McCain at the September National Convention and offered a slate of delegates to be voted on. According to some, they were not prepared for those that wanted the delegates to be chosen from the floor of the convention. The rules change caught the leadership asleep at the wheel, according to some.
The 31 delegates that have now been appointed are not being identified by the party, in what some are calling a less than dignified way to handle the process, and far less than a democratic way to handle the matter.
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