Stout provides state committee woman update
To the editor:
It’s a rare day when someone doesn’t ask me about my problem with being seated as the elected State Committee Woman. First, let me give just a few facts. Qualifying as a candidate for State Committee Woman was June 16-20. I filed my candidacy papers on June 20 with the Supervisor of Elections after learning that the prior State Committee Woman was not going to run. I learned of a “new” loyalty oath the following Thursday. This “new” loyalty oath was changed slightly, but the biggest change was that a June 17 memo from the State Party chair attempted to change the adopted Republican Party Rules to make signing of this “new” oath to be a mandatory requirement to be a candidate for precinct or state committee people and required signing by the end of the qualifying period. Instead of signing a loyalty oath after one is elected, this memo was an attempted rule change by memo. This change was not in the Republican Party Rules of Procedure filed with the State Division of Elections as required by Florida Statutes. This change (requiring a mandatory signing of a loyalty oath to be a candidate by June 20) was not filed with the Division of Elections, so the county supervisors followed the Republican Rules of Procedure filed by the State Party on June 2. I followed these rules and had no knowledge of any “new” loyalty oath.
There are approximately 200 people in Florida who won elections on Aug. 26 that were denied seats due to county chairs not sharing information about this “new” loyalty oath with the candidates. Most of these candidates were Precinct Committee people; two were State Committee people – Pastor Brian Longworth in St. Lucie County and myself. Brian won with 51 percent of the vote in a 3-person race. He won against the State Party assistant treasurer. In December we both received letters from the Republican Credentials Committee chair saying we would not be seated because each of us had not filed this “new” oath prior to June 20 and that we could file a challenge, which we did. Our challenges were timely filed. The Credentials Committee met on Jan. 9 but neither of us were notified nor given an agenda telling us when the meeting on our challenge would be held. Yet those candidates who “lost” the election and are being given our seats were there and spoke. I understand from people attending the credentials hearing that our Lee County chair stated that the “new” loyalty oath was discussed at the local party’s May meeting and that I could have signed the oath at that time. A local Republican oath was discussed which I did sign but this “new” Oath was never discussed at the May meeting.
Brian and I each provided our cell phone numbers to the Credentials Committee so that we could be notified as to the time and date of our hearing but we were not notified.
Because of these circumstances, Brian and I are filing a grievance with the Republican Party Grievance Committee. The Grievance Committee will next meet in April.
Two lawsuits have been filed over this June 12 memo requiring a “new” loyalty oath in Orange County and Miami-Dade (In Miami-Dade the court ruled in favor of seating those plaintiffs who received the most votes but the State Party has appealed that decision). It is interesting that this June 12 memorandum by the State Party chair also required Lee County Precinct Committee people to sign the loyalty oath prior to June 20. However, the Lee County membership chair sent a letter on June 25 to each of the members asking for signatures on the “new oath” – five days after the end of the qualifying period. It is my understanding that Chairman Lee told the media that there were just too many signatures to obtain by June 20 so he had received an extension of time to file the “new” oath. Contrary to that statement, the State Party Field Director informed me in December that there were no waivers or extensions to this June 12 memorandum.
I have complied with the rules of the Republican Party. I have won the election for Lee County State Committee Woman with 73 percent of the vote. Who is to decide who is to serve? The county chairs of the party or the will of the people?
Marilyn Stout
Cape Coral