Russian Roulette Pt 3 – Inaction Results In PA County GOPs Suiciding The PA GOP

The past week, I wrote two articles – Russian Roulette – The Death Of The PA Republican Party By Its Own Hand and Russian Roulette Pt 2 – A Coalition of Patriot Groups Takes Action While County GOPs Put 5 Rounds in the Revolver And Begin To Pull The Trigger – regarding numerous PA county GOPs that have been investigating committeemembers, holding hearings, and removing duly elected committeemembers simply because those committeemembers supported unendorsed Republican candidates or refused to support an endorsed candidate. Even though these committeemembers are the workhorses of the Party every election cycle, a number of county GOPs see them as a threat because they didn’t rollover and just support whomever the establishment decided would be the anointed one.

My hope in publishing the articles was that it would spur Chairman Tabas to take action consistent with my June 28, 2023 letter to him, which is linked in the original Russian Roulette article. While I was honored to receive an outpouring of support in response to the article, that was not the purpose. The purpose was to try to save our Party, especially our judicial candidates running in this election cycle. And shortly after publishing my first article, I saw a further glimmer of hope, when the Pennsylvania Patriot Coalition additionally sent a letter to Chairman Tabas, with a fantastic review of the history of the direct primary system and that it was enacted due to numerous members feeling disenfranchised by the convention nomination/endorsement process and the need, for the survival of the Party, to find a process by which everyone’s voice would be heard and given equal weight; whereby, our Party members have historically understood that if provided a voice and equal say, even if their candidate was not successful in the primary, we would come together in solidarity in the general, as we are all fellow members of the Republican Party, even if we disagree on candidates or particular issues. That letter and further information about other county GOPs taking action against fellow members caused me to publish Russian Roulette Part 2, along with a copy of the letter.

Per the Pennsylvania Patriot Coalition’s letter, as numerous members and group are talking about boycotting the upcoming and future elections, in the event committeemembers were removed for their support of unendorsed Republican candidates in the past primary, with many of them echoing the mantra “if they don’t want us, then they don’t need us” in relation to future elections, I was truly hopeful that Chairman Tabas would take action – to unite the Party – before the sham hearings regarding nine Cumberland County GOP members, which were scheduled for yesterday, Saturday, July 22nd. Unfortunately, as reported by HBG100, as a result of the hearings, seven members were “suspended indefinitely,” one member was suspended until the November election, and one was “permanently removed.” Setting aside the issues that (1) the Cumberland County GOP Bylaws do not even provide for a removal action for support of an unendorsed candidate in a primary and a proposal to add such a provision has been voted down by the members for the past three consecutive years and (2) the Bylaws are silent regarding the ability of anyone in the Cumberland County GOP to be “suspended indefinitely” or for any period of time, even if such a bylaw provision existed, it would be unlawful pursuant to 25 P.S. 2837 and the State Republican Bylaws, as the State Republican Bylaws are only in relation to the general election and county GOP bylaws cannot be inconsistent with the state bylaws, as I detailed in my June 28, 2023 letter to Chairman Tabas.

So it seems, per the Pennsylvania Patriot Coalition letter, that the line in the sand has been crossed, as at least Montgomery and Cumberland County GOPs have declared war on our own Party members, with other county GOPs still performing “investigatory hearings” and considering discipline. And now, as a result, our judicial candidates chances of being successful in November look extremely bleak. If I had a guess, based on what I am hearing, only one our judicial candidates has a possibility of success in November, as that candidate, while endorsed, did not come from the establishment and patriot groups are likely to support her, but not the other candidates. As I originally wrote to Chairman Tabas, it was untenable to me that we not be successful with all of our judicial candidates, “given the unquantifiable importance of our judiciary, especially in today’s world.” And what makes this all worse is not merely the fact that this is a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head, but that there was – and perhaps still is – an opportunity to prevent all of this, but time is of the essence, with only a little over three months remaining.

The Party MUST unite and go “all-in”, if there is any possibility of being successful in November. Accordingly, I am, for a third time, calling on county GOPs to put the gun down and if you have removed, suspended or otherwise taken any action against a county committeemember for supporting an unendorsed Republican candidate in the primary, reinstate them, immediately. I would also strongly suggest that our judicial candidates issue statements condemning these actions and imploring all county GOPs to not only cease further action but to reinstate any members who have been removed. Lastly, I would strongly urge Chairman Tabas to schedule a roundtable discussion with the key members of the patriot groups to discuss how our Patry can unite and be successful in November and beyond. Remember, 2024 is around the corner…and the future of our Republic is on the line.