Op-ed: Slating myths in Campell County

By Rick Boyer

In John Hardy Willson’s recent Bearing Drift op-ed he purports to “set the record straight” regarding “recent incidents of slating.” Instead, he perpetuates a lie claiming that “Russ Moulton was involved in slating delegates” in Campbell County in 2012. It’s generally a bad idea to underpin key points in your argument with “facts” that are completely untrue and easily proven so. Or as President Reagan put it, “the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.”

As a 20-year member and former chairman of Campbell County’s GOP, I have lost patience with the urban myth of “slating” in Campbell – especially from folks like Mr. Willson who have never attended a Campbell GOP meeting. It’s time for the hardworking, dedicated Republicans in this committee – who every year for the past five have given GOP candidates either the highest or second-highest vote percentage in the entire Fifth District – to have their integrity defended against baseless and politically motivated accusations. So let’s “set the record straight” – before this past March 20, slating had NEVER taken place in Campbell County.

Mr. Willson correctly defines slating as a mass meeting seating less than all prefiled folks as delegates, in order “to select candidates that represent their views on the nominee or issue being taken into consideration at the nominating convention.” The problem is, that had NEVER before happened in Campbell County.

Prior to March 20, there are exactly two instances of individuals being rejected either as members of the GOP county committee or as convention delegates. Neither had anything to do with who the applicants would support at a convention.

The first instance was in 2011. During my campaign as Republican nominee for Clerk of Court in 2010, several members of our committee chose to publicly support the independent candidate instead.

Article VII, Section C of RPV’s State Party Plan is clear: “A member of an Official Committee is held to a higher standard of support for nominees of the Republican Party…. Therefore, a member of an Official Committee is deemed to have resigned his Committee position if he (a) makes a reportable contribution to and/or (b) allows his name to be publicly used by and/or (c) makes a written or other public statement in support of a candidate in opposition to a Republican nominee.”

So at our next committee meeting in February 2011, the committee accepted the resignations of the roughly dozen members who had publicly opposed the Republican nominee. RPV Western District vice chairman Wendell Walker informed the group that resignation was automatic; the committee’s only discretion was whether to re-elect the resigned members.

A “motion” from one of the resigned members to immediately reinstate all the resigned members was voted down (and was out-of-order coming from a non-current member). Chairman Will Kirk invited all the resigned members to individually re-apply at the next meeting. Only two did – county supervisors Steve Shockley and Charles Falwell. BOTH WERE UNANIMOUSLY REINSTATED. Before they could attend their first meeting following reinstatement, Shockley was running for re-election AGAINST a Republican, and Falwell had endorsed him! Shockley ran for re-election under the banner of the newly formed “Independent Conservatives of Campbell County (ICCC),” a group formed – according to its secretary Bill Wheaton – to oppose Republican candidates for local office.

The other instance was the following year. Fred Smith – the then-sitting chairman of the “ICCC” – brought a crowd of his “ICCC” friends and sought election as Campbell GOP chair – while sitting as chairman of an opposing party that had just nominated three candidates against Republicans the previous year!

Article I, Section A.2 of the Party Plan is also clear: “A voter who, subsequent to making a statement of intent, publicly supports a candidate in opposition to a Republican nominee shall not be qualified for participation in party actions….” Thus, I made a motion to strike three applicants for delegate – Smith, his wife Laverne, and Wheaton, the “ICCC” secretary – all of whom had publicly endorsed against the GOP candidates the previous year. (The original motion included “ICCC” member Ron Ferrin, but upon his argument that we had no concrete evidence of his opposition to our candidates, I struck him from my motion). The motion passed. You can watch the YouTube video to verify my statement, at about the 5:30 mark on the video. Fred Smith Runs For Chairman of Campbell County Republican Party Pt. 8. (Incidentally, I had never told Russ that I planned to make that motion).

Until the Hostile Democrat Takeover this March, 2011 and 2012 were the only instances of applicants being denied. Both were measured, specific responses to specific violations of the Party Plan. 2011 involved about a dozen people, 2012 totalled 3. The battle in 2012 was over candidates for State Central Committee, and whether they supported a primary (favored by Bill Bolling) or a convention (favored by Ken Cuccinelli). Conservatives in Campbell were opposed to SCC incumbent Gene Smith, a primary supporter. But both Gene and his wife Anne were unanimously elected as delegates, as were all his supporters except the three who had violated the Party Plan!

Now in 2014, with scores of Democrats in attendance and RPV vice-chairman Mike Thomas at the helm, over 100 loyal, dedicated Republicans were slated off the committee and out of both the district and state conventions – the Hostile Democrat Takeover of 2014. Not one was ever even accused of any Party Plan violation. But Mark Lloyd – the conservative candidate for 5th District chair – and his wife Anne were both among the 100-plus slated off, in stark contrast to Gene Smith in 2012. Why? Because they did not support Jon Berkley for district chairman, and to “even the score” for 2011 and 2012.

For Mr. Willson – and Mike Thomas – to equate two limited instances of specific responses to specific violations of the Party Plan by endorsing against Republicans – involving less than 20 people total – as somehow morally equivalent to importing scores of Democrats to pull a mass slating of 100-plus loyal Republicans who simply planned to vote for the “wrong” candidate at the convention is either completely ignorant of the facts, or a deliberate attempt to deceive. Or if you like, a lie.

NEVER before in the history of the Campbell County Republican Party had a single soul been denied election for “being a RINO,” or “not being conservative enough,” or slated on the basis of who they planned to support at the convention – until now.

2011 and 2012 were, pure and simple, a defense of the integrity of the GOP committee, our Party Plan, and our candidates against attacks from outside. All who honored the Party Plan were unanimously elected. By contrast, 2014 was the importation of Democrats, to slate out the entire conservative base of the Campbell GOP – all to ensure that only delegates of one ideological persuasion had a voice.

Mr. Willson, I offer two pieces of advice. Next time, first check your facts. Second, once in command of the facts, tell the truth. Otherwise, the YouTube video will make you look really bad.

Rick Boyer was chairman of the Campbell County Republican Party from 1994-1996 and was, from 2003-2007, a GOP member of the Campbell County Board of Supervisors.