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View Full Version : Reince Priebus & Establishment GOP look to oust conservative Missouri GOP chairman




RandallFan
01-09-2015, 03:45 PM
Adam Shriver ‏@AdamJShriver (https://twitter.com/AdamJShriver) Reince Priebus aide to Ed Martin: "When is the next election for Missouri State GOP Chair?" http://spectator.org/articles/60106/rnc-discuss-mississippi-radio-ads … (http://t.co/vslHdXHp8C) #ouch (https://twitter.com/hashtag/ouch?src=hash) #mogop (https://twitter.com/hashtag/mogop?src=hash) #moleg (https://twitter.com/hashtag/moleg?src=hash)

https://twitter.com/adamjshriver/status/494905091737260032


http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org/post/two-st-louis-republicans-battle-lead-missouri-party


Despite all the gains that Missouri Republicans made in last fall’s balloting, the state party appears headed for a showdown shortly over who should be its leader heading into the crucial 2016 elections.

Two St. Louisans – incumbent state GOP chairman Ed Martin and former party executive director John Hancock – are competing in an election to determine who gets Martin's job.
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kwmu/files/styles/card_280/public/201501/edmartin2010RH.JPG (http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kwmu/files/201501/edmartin2010RH.JPG) Ed Martin in 2010 at his election watch party when he ran unsuccessfully for Congress
Credit File photo | Rachel Heidenry | St. Louis Beacon



The current GOP executive director, Matt Wills, confirmed Friday that their showdown is likely to take place during the state GOP’s annual Lincoln Days gathering to be held in late February in Kansas City.

"Notice to the state committee will be sent out shortly," Wills said.

Such a contest could overshadow the event’s nationally known speakers, including 2012 presidential hopeful Rick Santorum and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.

This year's gathering -- the largest annual public event for Missouri Republicans -- has been renamed "Reagan-Lincoln Days'' to honor former President Ronald Reagan, a Republican icon.

Under the party’s bylaws, it’s up to Martin to schedule the election, which would involve the 68 committeemen and committeewomen from around the state. Since he postponed the usual vote in December or early January, some party activists have suspected that Martin might hold the event at Lincoln Days to galvanize his backers.
The battle lines also highlight the state Republican Party’s ideological split. Martin, a lawyer and favorite of the tea-party wing, narrowly won the state post two years ago in a bitter contest in which he ousted incumbent David Cole. Hancock, a veteran political consultant, is believed to be backed by many of the party’s top donors and longtime activists, some of whom were never in Martin’s camp.
Hancock is declining to release a list of supporters. “I consider that divisive,’’ he said.
Battle largely over finances
Hancock is a longtime ally of U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin.