WHO MAKES THE CUT? While 40 potential Republican candidates were notified by letter from State Chair Scott Golden that they were at risk of being denied being on the primary ballot due to failing the requirements of being “Bona fide” under party rules, many cured their deficiency quickly.
In many cases, it meant simply paying the required fee to qualify. For others, the failure to have voted in three out of four of the last statewide Republican primaries (3/3 for state executive committee positions) or for donating to Democrats requires a waiver to be granted by the state executive committee (SEC) members who represent a particular state house or Senate District.
10 of the 40 were restored after paying the required fees as part of the “bona fide” process. Others are unlikely to be granted a waiver by the SEC members required to vote in favor of a waiver. If two SEC members (in some cases 4 or 6) responsible for determining whether or not to grant a waiver to a particular candidate within the Senate district over which they have authority are divided in their vote, then (and only then) does GOP Chair Scott Golden vote to break the impasse.
In several cases across the state, it appears that SEC members motivated by personal agendas or private animosity have voted in ways to produce inconsistent and unfair results. Some of the inconsistencies result in varied rulings from one district to another, where a waiver granted in one part of the state by SEC members is denied in other cases with similar or identical circumstances. Even within the Senatorial districts, some SEC members vote one way when they seem to want to assist a friend or family member, and the opposite when dealing with someone with whom they have suffered a petty political slight in the past. “Bona fide” standards in some cases appear to play less of a role than raw exercise of power and political payback, neither of which adds any credibility to the process or the Party.
In Madison County (Jackson) for example, SEC members Jimmy Harris and Shannon Haynes voted in favor of waivers for virtually every potential GOP candidate seeking relief, including those who had failed to vote in any of the past four statewide Republican primaries, except for incumbent Republican General Sessions Judge Mark Patey, who had the exact same voting deficiency. Patey has a long history of aiding and donating to solely Republican candidates; in fact, he drafted the Madison County GOP bylaws. He has also been unanimously endorsed for reelection by the Madison County GOP, but is not sufficiently Republican in the view of two SEC members pursuing their personal and private agenda.
Meanwhile, Harris and Haynes voted to grant a waiver to Harris’ nephew, who is seeking a seat on the Henderson County Commission, who had failed to vote in a sufficient number of Republican primaries just like Patey. Hardly the kind of transparency and integrity that Republicans loudly claim when denouncing the ethical and moral lapses of Democrats.
Many are blaming Scott Golden for the abuses of the system playing out in determining the “bona fide“ status of various Republican office seekers during this cycle. But under the rules passed by the state executive committee, Golden only intervenes in the event of a tie in determining a candidate’s Republican qualifications. Any indications of corruption in the voting process rest solely on the heads of the individual elected SEC members involved, and underline the necessity of Republican primary voters paying very close attention to those seeking election, or reelection, to these low-visibility but highly powerful positions.
Monday will bring a final resolution to a number of remaining waiver applications, including the appeal filed by former Speaker Glen Casada’s Chief of Staff Cade Cothren.
Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily, and who has consistently voted in GOP primaries for decades.
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