PA GOP to settle another clash, this time in Washington County

UPDATE: PA GOP has ruled that Ashley Duff will retain her seat as the Washington County Republican Committee (WCRC) Chairwoman

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — The PA GOP is again under the scorch of the spotlight, facing both a tense chairman race, but also settling disputed county GOP chairman elections – all of this drawing more attention to a divide within the party, seemingly between the “establishment” cronies and the “grassroots” MAGA patriots. 

In the latest kerfuffle, in Washington County, PA, Harrisburg100 has learned that an election took place within the Washington County Republican Committee (WCRC) on Jan. 4, at which Ashley Duff – a strong MAGA supporter – was elected as the new WCRC chair.  The announcement was published in the local Observer-Reporter newspaper on Jan. 14. 

“Ashley Duff was selected chairwoman and will lead the party for the next two years,” it reads. “Her leadership team includes Steve Renz as vice chair; Denise Breide, second vice chair; Stephanie Rossi, secretary, and April Betzner, treasurer.”

Fast forward three weeks later: now, outgoing PA GOP Chairman Lawrence Tabas has appointed a “Credentials Committee” (pursuant to the PA GOP bylaws) to hear a challenge brought forth by a WCRC Committee Person, Clyde Wilhelm, who’s disputing the validity of Duff’s election, due to what he claims are violations of WCRC bylaws, standing rules, etc.  

The PA GOP expects to settle the matter, during a video “hearing” set for this Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., when both sides are asked to bring their evidence, but no “cross examination” is allowed, per the leaked email, authored by PA GOP attorney Tom King.  “The strict rules of evidence do not apply,” reads the email. (King and Vonne Andring will preside over the hearing from the PA GOP.)

For the WCRC matter, the “Credentials Committee” will be chaired by Jim Foreman, and will also include Bunny Welsh and Donna Cosmello” (all three of which are PA GOP state committee members.) Foreman is from Blair County; Bunny Welsh is from Chester County; and Cosmello is from Susquehanna County.

While little is public about this conflict, one PA GOP political insider, Joshua Prince, called attention to WCRC as one of many counties, subject to a “systemic … assault on Republicans by our own Party here in Pennsylvania!” Prince, today showing promise as a GOP frontrunner for Commonwealth Court judge, shared in a July 20, 2023 blog post, that: “This is not merely an issue in Chester, Cumberland, and Montgomery counties. I’ve now come to learn that similar actions (and some even more horrendous in nature) have been taken in Armstrong, Bucks, Northampton, Washington, Westmoreland and the list goes on…It is truly a systemic problem.” 

CUMBERLAND COUNTY: 

Locally, in Cumberland County, Prince was referring to the controversial removal of elected committee persons from the county GOP organization, under the leadership of CCGOP Lou Capozzi, simply for supporting – in the May 2023 primary – more-conservative candidates – one of whom won in the general election, conservative Commissioner Gary Eichelberger. Eichelberger has since broke formally from the Republican party over the committee leadership’s attempts to block his re-election and for “abandoning cornerstone Republican principles and … increased hostility towards authentic conservatives.”

Locally, Harrisburg100 has covered the July 2023 removal of those seven (7) committee persons here in Cumberland County (CC) – a county represented by state GOP chair candidate, state Sen. Greg Rothman.   It has also been chronicled in a local blog, entitled: “Republicans in Cumberland.”

To date, there remains multiple CP vacancies due to the illegal CP removals in Cumberland County, under Capozzi’s lead. 

ROTHMAN Vs. BACHENBERG:

Rothman, who preceded Capozzi, as CCGOP chair, before exiting in disgrace due to financial misdeeds, not to mention forgery-related charges decades prior, did not intervene in the matter. Rothman’s silence has now become a talking point since he is emphatically invoking “unity” as a theme in his state GOP chairman campaign. Rothman also supported Ron DeSantis instead of President Donald J. Trump.

His challenger, Bill Bachenberg, a Lehigh Valley businessman and prominent Trump supporter, has voiced his pledge to resolve the wild discord between the state’s bylaws and all 67 counties. Bachenberg has been campaigning hard among the 380 state committee members, who will cast their vote for the new PA GOP chair on Feb. 8^that the Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill. Bachenberg made a late entry into the race after former Trump-advisor Ted Christian, who built his PAGOP chair campaign up for a year, was reportedly forced out after about a week’s time.   Now, Bachenberg is pledging to bring “Integrity, Trust and Transparency” back to the PA GOP, in response to a widespread grassroots frustration that it’s been lacking these values for a long time.

GRASSROOTS’ BLOCKED? 

Charles S. “Sam” Faddis, President of the growing grassroots’ Pennsylvania Patriot Coalition, reached out to Tabas, via a July 6, 2023 letter, calling out the party’s hypocrisy, and asking him to honor the voice of every party member, in the  primary process, so the entire party can unify behind the winning candidate in the general election.  “We have seen elected Republican chairpersons and committee persons at the state and county levels, who have pledged not to support our Party’s presidential and gubernatorial candidates in the General election, even though they were successful in the Primary. And, what action was taken, even though such action is directly contrary to the Pa. Republican State bylaws?” he wrote. 

Faddis reports that he has written multiple times to Tabas, over a stretch of about two years; and has never received a single reply. He also says he has reason to believe that he is “blocked” from sending emails to any PA GOP email account. 

One example of hypocrisy that Faddis is referring to is the May 2022 Primary win of Sen. Doug Mastriano, who was  not endorsed by the state party in a closed meeting – an unusual inaction because historically endorsements have been issued; and secondly, public & monetary support was not widely lent to Mastriano by Republican leadership. 

In past coverage, Mastriano said: “Republicans have proven once again that they are far better at beating up our own people than defeating Democrats.”

OTHER COUNTY CLASHES: 

Across Pa., Washington County’s dispute isn’t the first issue to come before the PA GOP.  In Lawerence County, the election of MAGA supporter Lynne Ryan as chairwoman of the Lawrence County Republican Committee (LCRC) was disputed; and a meeting was arranged on Dec. 27^th at which another member, Dale Turner reportedly received a “near-unanimous” vote to replace Ryan as chair; but Ryan appealed to the Credentials Committee. In that case, the Credentials Committee found that the Dec. 27^thmeeting organized to remove Ryan from her chairman position was not in accordance with the LCRC bylaws; and so she was restored as chair at that Jan. 9^th meeting. Republican state representatives Marla Brown and Aaron Bernstine both issued a failed plea to the state GOP to remove Ryan as chair, according to coverage by the New Castle News.  Ryan incidentally is running for PA GOP Vice Chair, against incumbent Bernie Comfort, who is running alongside Rothman. 

Bedford County also had a chairman dispute resolved via a “Credentials Committee,”  chronicled in the Bedford Gazette on June 19, 2024.