Steve Smith
A number of well-known Republicans who sought voting rights on party leadership at precinct caucuses also were defeated by the well-oiled Activate Hamilton machine, that had been busy lining up convention attendees – all under the party rules.
Those include Larry and Patsy Henry, outgoing City Councilman Darrin Ledford and his wife Kelly, Public Defender Steve Smith and his wife Mary, and Mary Francis Hoots, communications director for County Mayor Weston Wamp and chair of the Hamilton County Young Republicans.
Mr.
Henry served on the County Commission and is now Circuit Court clerk. Patsy Henry has long been active in local and state Republican Party functions, while leading the Hamilton County Republican Women.
The convention resulted in a vote for Gail Greene as the new county party leader and the choice of the rest of the Activate Hamilton slate. The tally was Greene 213, Hammond 104.
Ms. Greene and Activate Hamilton earlier had wielded their focused grassroots approach to pull a major upset in the House District 27 race as Michelle Reneau unseated Patsy Hazlewood.
Ms. Hoots said she was surprised at the large convention crowd, which she estimated at 600 to 700, noting that some 200 normally attend the party conventions.
She said in order to get into the convention persons had to have been vetted by a credentials committee and found to have voted for Donald Trump in the two previous elections.
Ms. Hoots said those present broke off into a large number of precinct caucuses, where votes were taken on who would represent each of the precincts. She said larger precincts got more delegates.
She said there were seven persons for her St. Elmo precinct, who were to elect three delegates. She said she was not selected with the choice made by those sporting Activate Hamilton stickers.
Ms. Hoots said she has a good relationship with Ms. Greene and is ready to work with the new majority to elect conservative Republicans.
Ms. Greene said Activate Hamilton can’t be blamed for this particular convention format.
She said, “It was actually the previous leadership’s decision to hold a delegated convention, which is why only a certain number of people in each precinct could be elected as delegates to vote for leadership in the afternoon. Those who felt disenfranchised can thank Mark Harrison and the other members of the County Executive Committee who voted to hold a delegated convention.”
She said Hamilton County “is one of only three or four counties in the entire state that chose to hold a delegated convention. Had they chosen a mass convention, every qualified participant would have been able to vote on leadership.”
Public Defender Smith, in a Facebook post, said Activate Hamilton had done “a masterful job” of taking over the leadership of the county GOP, but he said the group will be known by how Republicans fare in elections going forward.
He said it appeared that Activate Hamilton was working for city mayoral candidate Chris Long, who was at the county convention wearing an Activate Hamilton sticker. Mr. Smith also noted that some Activate Hamilton leaders denied they were behind the Long candidacy against Mayor Tim Kelly.
Mayor Kelly won resoundingly (17,356-2,750).
Asked if Activate Hamilton had worked for Chris Long for mayor, Ms. Greene said, “No. Not at all. I wish Steve Smith would have reached out to me before he made a public statement.”
“I also don’t really know the local Activate Republican Party. I do know several friends, good people, who do know a good deal about them and are affiliated. And I am interested in knowing more. Because I am and have been a Republican ever since my parents voted for Ronald Reagan here in Hamilton County all the way back in 1980. And believe it or not, there were very few, next to no, local republicans in office back in those days. In fact, it wasn’t until fairly recently that us republicans completely took over the reins of County government. And we’ve held onto them for a decade or so now.
“I was the last Republican in a county wide race to beat an incumbent democrat. That was back in 2014. She had been in office for 28 years. There are no democrats holding county wide offices today. We, the republicans, have held onto all those seats in every election since.
“But now isn’t the time to rest on laurels. The Activate folks did a masterful job of taking over the executive offices of the local Republican Party. And they have their eyes on City government. I have to admit, knowing the demographics, it’s a bold move. And I would love to see them take some seats there. You can’t win if you don’t try. But also, picking your battles is a skill that some folks fail to grasp. Many times folks are constantly battling everything and anything. It’s a hard way to live.
“The Activate republicans have a candidate for mayor in the election. [Edit: both a member of the new HCGOP board, and the husband of the Chairperson of the HCGOP said Chris Long wasn’t an Activate Hamilton candidate] I don’t know him [Chris Long]. I have seen him proudly wearing an activate sticker. Because I don’t live in the city I can’t vote for him. But I am really interested in how he does. You will know them by their fruits. Let’s see how this tree bears fruit today and then judge the new activate movement by what it is able to accomplish or fails to accomplish. It has picked this battle.
“Today, I’m watching the fruit.”
This article was originally published by a www.chattanoogan.com . Read the Original article here. .