Meanwhile, Al Boudin has announced on Facebook that he is running for the seat. Previously, Boudin had been a candidate for vice chair on a slate headed by Yon. With Yon's withdrawal and Boudin's switch, Jon Firebaugh is entering the race as candidate for vice chair. The remainder of the slate consists of Nancy Bishop for secretary and Hallie Jessup for treasurer.
The controversy that prompted Yon's exit was a weeks-long tempest involving chair candidate Jeff Hyde's unsubstantiated accusation that "establishment" members of the party threatened to release damaging information if he did not withdraw from the race. The information concerned a criminal conviction by one of Hyde's associates, Bret Riddleberger, dating back to the mid-1990s. Riddleberger's wife preemptively referenced the information on Facebook and it quickly went public. In the aftermath, current executive director Tony Wilkins raised questions about Hyde's character. The ensuing battle has featured mutual expressions of recrimination, suspicion and distrust between the tea party and so-called "establishment" factions of the local party.
Discussion of the backdrop of today's developments here and here.
YES! Weekly has obtained Yon's letter of withdrawal:
When I began this campaign to run for Party Chairman in January, my full intention was to unite the Party to the best of my ability against the Democrats.
However, the contest for chairman in recent weeks and indeed, days has become divisive to the point that my fear now becomes that the Party will not be able to reach that goal. I believe for the good of the party it is best for me to step down as a candidate for chairman. This race has never been about ego or about me being the sole leader of the party. It was always a team race, and I feel it is best for my team and more importantly best for the party for me to step down as a candidate. I have complete trust that Al Bouldin and Mike Picarelli can help the party heal after this divisive time and move us forward together, to victory, in 2012. I feel that they will always put the Party's interests first. My candidacy in recent weeks had become a lightning rod for criticism and we simply cannot beat the Democrats with inner turmoil in the party. I urge everyone to support the slate of Mike, Al, Nancy and Hallie in their quest to lead the GOP to victory in what will be [a] difficult and challenging election season. I sincerely appreciate the help and dedication of all of those volunteers who helped our slate, and I ask that you continue to support our slate -- they are our best chance for victory.
Theresa Yon
5 comments:
One correction Jordan, and this is something that myself and others feel strongly about. C4GC is not the Tea Party.
Yes, they affiliate with the Tea Party movement, but there other groups and individuals who also consider themselves as part of that movement but who are not affiliated with C4GC.
There are people in the Tea Party movement who don't support Jeff Hyde, so to characterize this as the establishment vs. the Tea Party isn't accurate.
Fair enough, Spag. But are there people in Guilford County who identify with the tea party who are not involved with C4GC?
One of the challenges of reporting on this contest for a general audience is that a lot of people outside of the local Republican Party don't know what C4GC is, but they do know about the tea party. Using the term "tea party" implies a sense of ideological purity and impatience with compromise. It bogs reporting down to explain C4GC's history in every story, and after all C4GC has hosted the 2010 tax day tea party in Greensboro and will do so again this year.
I also struggle with how to accurately describe the Al Boudin slate in this contest. I've written "establishment" Republicans in quotes, but that's Hyde's term. Is it more accurate to describe them as regular Republicans?
For those of us on the outside, the policy differences between the two factions are minute to invisible, and the conflict appears to be senseless.
Sorry, the previous comment is from me. I accidentally used my lovely wife's account to log in. She is the last person who would be commenting on internal GOP politics.
@Jordan: "For those of us on the outside, the policy differences between the two factions are minute to invisible, and the conflict appears to be senseless."
Well said, Jordan. Watching these splinter movements splinter even further is quite the attraction.
It really is, Jeff. Part of me instinctually wants to play peacemaker. As somewhat with no vested interest in the success of the GOP, I still can't help but note that all this drama and division plays to the advantage of the other party.
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