The text of the letter is below.
March 20, 2012
Chairman Kevin DeWine
Ohio Republican Party
211 South Fifth Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Dear Chairman DeWine:
As the Chairmen of seven of the largest county Republican Party organizations in the State of Ohio, we represent hundreds of thousands of loyal Republican activists, elected officials, candidates, donors and voters in Ohio. In fact, our seven counties represent nearly half of Ohio’s voting population, and our organizations, together with the Ohio Republican Party, must be focused on reaching those voters in order to win the important elections that are at stake this year.
For the past few months it has been apparent that the contentious relationship between top ORP leadership and the party’s elected officials is untenable and irreconcilable. For reasons unknown to us, you have been either unable or unwilling to find common ground to facilitate an effective and trusting relationship with our elected officials.
Your recent announcement that you will not seek re-election as ORP Chairman is an acknowledgement that new party leadership is needed, and we recognize how difficult a decision this must have been for you. Although we respect your current decision on this matter, we believe that it does not provide the necessary resolution to the situation.
You have admitted that the situation is unsustainable, yet you ask to sustain the status quo for 10 more months in a critical year for this party, state, and nation. We believe that it is fruitless to continue the finger pointing and unnecessary public airing of differences that has occurred.
Since the Primary Election earlier this month, it has become objectively clear to us that a majority of the incoming State Central Committee is intent upon new leadership at the state party. Now is the time for the party to unite under party leadership that can work with all of our elected officials and nominees; however, a majority of your Committee does not believe that you have the capacity to provide that unified leadership.
Therefore, it is with deep regret that we ask you to resign as chairman of the Ohio Republican Party immediately. It is our hope that, as you have already done with your announcement this past weekend, you will continue to demonstrate your commitment to the Republican Party and do what is right for the institution for which you have such great respect.
Sincerely,
We will have more commentary later this evening. I wanted to get this letter available for you to read immediately. However, think about who is urging DeWine to step down. You have the new ORP committee itself, almost every tea party in the state, most of the Republican grassroots, and now the chairmen of Ohio's largest counties, representing almost nearly half of the state. He needs to read the writing on the wall and resign. Ohio's Republican voters have spoken.
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Any explanation from the 81 other county chairman why they failed to sign the letter?
ReplyDeletePerhaps no one asked? Kevin Dewine is damaged goods and needs to go.
DeleteAlex Arshnikoff has always been fair and inclusive in his county...Rob Frost has had huge victories...Jon Steinbrook is as emotionally stable as the next guy...and Doug Preisse has nothing person to gain from this...It all seems on the up and up
ReplyDeleteApparently you don't know Jon Stainbrook. LOL!
DeleteObviously this is sarcasm, kids
DeleteFine , you don't like a few, what about the others? The Hamilton cty chair is a fine individual, as is Montgomery cty.
DeleteFolks, do you understand how the party has gone down hill under dewine? He had complete control, endorsed the uncumbents, raised a ton of money from husted's supporters, got a lot of mail in kinded from buereck's shop and still lost!!! That takes ineptitude. He deserves everything he gets. I hope the Kasich Batchelder team recruits someone who can put together an organization which can win.
But Kasich and Batchelder are just as bad, just as inept. They blew it on SB5 and tried to hitch and arms length ride on State issue 3. Now they have alienated a good portion of the state electorate with the running of this fake pac that provided money for the State Central Committee. You think we didn't notice?
DeleteLOL @ trying to call out Kasich and Batch on policy. These are the same guys who have Ohio #1 in job growth in the Midwest and just got our credit rating improved. And one of the primary reasons SB 5 failed was because DeWine at the ORP didn't provide ANY help besides an occasional tweet. Thanks for helping to prove the point that DeWine needs to go. And can you link a few articles that prove they tried to hitch to Issue 3? Didn't think so.
DeleteConsidering a GREAT portion of the electorate voted to get rid of DeWine's team on the SCC, I don't think anyone was alienated by the effort to get rid of the ORP's most corrupt chairman in its history. In fact, they seem pretty darn happy about it.
I just hope they can find someone like Priebus at the RNC who cleaned up Michael Steele's mess.
You may be convinced. They may be adequate on policy on in the Ohio House and Senate, but they are wonks outside to the general public. Salesmen they ain't!
DeleteRight now I am waiting to see which of the 7 signatory wannabees thinks they are good enough for state chairman. I'm going to roll over laughing if the Stain thinks he's good cloth. I'll join the Libertarians if he's elected.
The Dewine supporters keep saying this is Kasich -v- Dewine. Can we be honest and admit it is bigger than that? This isn't a debate on a piece of legislation where there are two sides and a productive discussion is possible. This is about good - v - evil. This is transparency -v- secret operating accounts. This is supporting what's right -v- a self serving agenda. Do you think anybody wants to inherit all of the debt Dewine has run up as chair? All I can ask is that the people who support Dewine's way of doing business to please support it as vocally as possible so I can add you to the list of folks I will not support in any endeavour. If you are still marching to Kevin Dewine's drum, you obviously have not been paying attention the last 10 years or you are complicit. I can't fathom any way you could be paying attention and think dewine is doing a good job. Isn't it amazing that all of these people have united against dewine? At least this party is finally united, Kevin has brought together the governor, the speaker of the house, all of the urban county chairs, many of the party's largest donors, and tens of thousands of grass root conservatives all over the state demanding he resign immediately.
DeleteI want to know when the local parties got together and voted or decided to support the action of the various chairmen ... or did the chairmen take it upon themselves to 'speak' on behalf of their counties without first checking with the people they're supposed to represent?
ReplyDeleteI know the Lucas County Republican Party hasn't had any such meetings.
This is not to say I agree or disagree with the demand for DeWine to step down now - but there is a proper way for a party chairman to take such action and that would be to get the input of the local party before speaking on its behalf.
I'm just guessing, but I would think that these party chairmen have probably been very frustrated with a lot of things by dewine. He didn't support Ohio house candidates, he didn't support our governor in a tightly contested race, he spent all of the party's money on his cousin's and his boyhood neighbor's races and went so far as to disuade contributions to house races. With no support from the state for important races like Cuyahoga County Executive that would be a cornerstone to growing a base, he gave everything to his cousin and his neighbor. The state party needs to work in both directions, under dewine it has been a vacuum.
DeleteMaggie, allow me to bring you up to speed. The scams Dewine, "Little Larry" Husted, Buerck, and Sisk are running are nothing new:
Delete(2004) Secret Operating Accounts http://www.parentadvocates.org/nicecontent/dsp_printable.cfm?articleID=3840
The Householder Years:
http://www.aproundtable.org/news/printarticle.cfm?news_ID=1162&issuecode=gen
"His sidekick, fund-raiser Kyle Sisk, lost his major Republican accounts, sold his home after claiming that records subpoenaed by a grand jury had been stolen from his billiards table and is involved in an undisclosed business venture." Full disclosure, Sisk didn't sell his house, Little Larry Husted's wife Tina sold it for him. Nice to see Sisk had the evidence against Householder stolen out of his house allegedly.
Little Larry says do as I say not as I do. Comments on Beurck: "Husted said, "It's not just one issue or event. Our consultants can't be the focus of how we govern our campaign. I feel the present controversy will overshadow our policies and our campaign goals."
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2008/06/16/gop_consultant.html
(2011) All Kinds Of Nastiness:
http://sago.com/2011/10/29/ohio-fundraiser-calls-for-dewine-resignation/
Buerck and Sisk raised millions of dollars for Householder and House Republicans by threatening to withhold financial support from wayward members who didn’t vote in lockstep with Householder on key pieces of legislation. They also strong-armed members to embrace no-new-taxes pledges, using political nonprofits such as the Ohio Taxpayers Association to wage scorched-earth campaigns against Democrats and uncooperative Republican primary opponents.
I'm certainly not a DeWine fan - think others could do a much better job. Don't like how he's spent money on central committee races and all the behind the scenes financial shenanigans.
DeleteBut that doesn't excuse party chairmen from purporting to speak for all Republicans in their counties without first having a central committee meeting to determine what position the local parties want to take - if any - on the internal fight.
Additionally, I want to know who the alternative is. I think Matt Hurley at Weapons of Mass Discussion makes a valid point about the 'devil you know' versus the one you don't.
Just another self-interested, corrupt Greene County politician...we certainly have our share
ReplyDeleteMaggie Thurber knows firsthand about crooked politicians since she was one of Tom Noe's conduits for funneling money and then she left her post writing a column in a free weekly tabloid when she was caught plagiarizing someone else's work. She also supported a faction up in Lucas County who was trying to take out Chairman Jon Stainbrook with the help of Kevin Dewine.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteCertainly I've made mistakes, but I've also taken responsibility for them and paid the penalty.
DeleteHowever, you are absolutely wrong to claim I supported a faction who was trying to take out Stainbrook with the help of Kevin DeWine. I was NOT involved in that effort at all - and it's news to me that DeWine was involved in any way.
I do know, however, that DeWine and Stainbrook worked together to get rid of Meghan Gallagher's opponent in the state central committee race, though why DeWine would work to support someone who appears to be supportive of Kasich is beyond me.
This is about replacing Kevin Dewine -- I am dead certain that Alex Triantafilou would have the support of most Hamiton County GOPer's if he took a poll. Time is awasting -- we need to get the party and the elected officials on the same page ASAP!
ReplyDeleteWow... Team Kasich party chairman Doug Priesse got a bunch of other Team Kasich folks and some blue county Chair folks to support Kasich. Funny how you guys never talk about how some of these same folks voted to re-elected DeWine in 2011... like Priesse.
ReplyDeleteAll this to make Jo Ann Davidson or Betty Montgomery Chair? Some conservative revolution.
Well, hello Modern! Still can't stay away huh? Why are you so obsessed with us?
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