Russian Roulette Pt 7 – Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Any Worse…And State Committee Is Set To Meet Sept 29-30th…

When I published my original article entitled Russian Roulette – The Death of the PA Republican Party by Its Own Hand on July 7, 2023, I never imagined the positive response that I would receive or that it would turn into a now-7 part series. I was hopeful that that single article would spur action to unite our Party for the November elections. When I found myself, four article later, writing Russian Roulette Pt 6 – Chester County Chair Honors His Word and PA Patriot Coalition Sends Another Letter to Chairman Tabas, I was truly hopeful that things would calm down, Chairman Tabas would take action to bring the Party together, and we all would come together before the November election. Unfortunately, the dysfunction has only grown, with State Committee allegedly dissolving a county GOP (a power that is not specified within the Party’s Bylaws and is not supported by the non-profit corporation laws of the Commonwealth), a Chair of a different county GOP being ignored in toto by the Party, two endorsed statewide candidates not receiving any support from the Party, and as a result of the Patriot purge in many counties and the failure of the Party to end it, Patriots either being unwilling to come out for the November elections or deciding to do write-ins. And I find myself, once again, contemplating where to begin…

Recently, BillLawrenceOnline reported on the ongoings in Butler County, where the Chair’s wife elected to run as an independent, against the Republican nominee. While that, in and of itself, would not be a basis for removal, pursuant to the PA GOP Bylaws, the Chair allegedly stated to State Committee that he would not support the Republican nominee [however, see update at the end of this article], which is directly violative of Rule 11.1, which provides, in pertinent part, “[w]henever it shall appear that any member of the State Party…opposes the Republican State Party or any Republican Party candidate for office in either a Municipal, General Election or Special Election…the State Party Chairman shall declare the office vacant and notify the Chairman of the County Committee in which the said member resides of the vacancy.”

While I understand the Chair offered to take a leave of absence until after the election with the Vice Chairman taking over as Chair, per the Butler Co GOP Bylaws, the PA GOP declined the request and removed him, which was within the Party’s proper power and authority, per Rule 11.1, [unless, as mentioned in the below update, the Chair never stated that he would not support the nominee]. Of course, this has irked many in the GOP, as the Party has been selectively enforcing Rule 11.1. For example, many will remember that during the February State Committee meeting, a motion was brought up to remove those State Committee members, who voted for Democrat Rozzi to be Speaker of the House, only for it to be tabled indefinitely and still not acted upon. And then, there are all those State Committee members who refused to support our past-gubernatorial candidate, where, again, no action was taken to remove them. More recently, as this series has addressed several times, the Party took no action in relation to the unlawful purge of Patriots from county GOPs, even though those members where removed for supporting Republicans, other than the anointed ones, in the Primary, and where, even Chairman Tabas has agreed that the State Committee Bylaws only apply in the General and require that county bylaws be consistent with the state bylaws. And there is also the fact, as I addressed in Pt 5 with related screenshots, that the Cumberland Co Chair liked his newly appointed committee member’s statement about supporting Rizzo, Casey, and the Teamsters…but no action has been taken in relation to his chairmanship…It almost seems like the selective enforcement we’re seeing at the federal level…

But this isn’t the worst part regarding the Butler Co debacle…in an ultra vires act, the Party, in the absence of any power or legal right and seemingly in violation of the PA non-profit corporation laws, has dissolved the Butler Co GOP and is apparently scheduling a reorganizational meeting. This not only disenfranchises voters of their elected representatives and the representatives of their due process and other constitutional rights, but is everything the GOP has historically railed against…And it is anyone’s guess as to how State Committee intends to “reorganize” the county committee. All of this will almost certainly result in substantial litigation and likely at the cost not just to the PA GOP, but to the November elections, which are of the utmost importance, as I’ve stated time and time again in this series.

And then, there is the current Armstrong Co Chair, who, on numerous occasions, has called and emailed the PA GOP regarding the Armstrong Committee’s appointment of a state committee member to a vacant seat and their recent amendments to its bylaws, all of which are not responded to and ignored. She believes that Armstrong Co is being blackballed by the PA GOP and that will resultantly disenfranchise Armstrong Co GOP members, which, again, will be detrimental to the November elections.

And within the past couple days, I heard that the PA GOP and Commonwealth Partners are only assisting Supreme Court and Commonwealth Court candidates Carluccio and Martin, respectively, and leaving Superior Court candidates Smail and Batista to fight for themselves. Why would that be, especially given that their election could change the balance of the court? The answer may lie in Pt 5 of this series…

And all of this on the eve of the September 29-30th State Committee meeting in Camp Hill. Will duly elected and appointed state committee members be turned away? Will the purge of Patriots continue? Will action be taken on the tabled motion to remove those state committee members who supported Rizzo? Will someone (please) put down the gun and reset relations amongst all GOP members, by calling together all the groups and factions, listening to their grievances and concerns, and find a solution that everyone can live with? While it will not be easy and will likely take a savvy negotiator several days, it is doable, if a true leader, who only wants the best for the future of the Party, steps forward. The question is whether there is a leader prepared to step forward. Because if not, all will be lost in the November elections. I’ve already heard from some Patriot groups that they’re already planning either boycotts or write-in campaigns, which will undoubtedly result in the November elections being lost, which is exactly what I believe Commonwealth Partners actually desires.

It seems to me that the only reorganizational meeting that is necessary and appropriate, is one involving the entirety of the PA GOP.

UPDATE: 9/21/23 – It was relayed to me that the Butler Co Chair never stated that he would not support the Republican nominee and to the contrary, even offered to take a photo with the Republican nominee to show his support of him, which State Committee dismissed. If true, there would be no basis under the PA GOP Bylaws for the Chair’s removal.