Troyhand
12-30-2007, 04:22 AM
Great Job West Virginia!
http://www.timeswv.com/intodayspaper/local_story_364020906.html
Local GOP to get jump on primary
10 at-large delegates to be elected Thursday
By Bill Byrd
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — Marion County Republicans will get a jump on the 2008 presidential primaries when they vote Thursday afternoon to pick 10 at-large delegates to the state GOP convention in Charleston on Feb. 5.
Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in the late 1980s, has the most support among 20 candidates vying for the at-large delegate slots, said Andrew Sabak, the party’s county chairman.
Nine candidates prefer Paul and six say their choice is Mitt Romney. Rudy Giuliani is preferred by two candidates, while one likes Fred Thompson. Two would-be delegates are running as “uncommitted” to any of the party’s presidential hopefuls, Sabak said.
Other Republicans in the presidential primary are Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain and Gene Zarwell.
The election will be in the former city council chambers on the third floor of the J. Harper Meredith building, Sabak said.
“Our ‘county convention’ will be held from 3-7 p.m. Jan. 3,” he said. Balloting will be secret and will follow normal election rules. Voters will use paper ballots.
Republican voters who registered online earlier this year to vote for delegates at the state convention must vote online, following instructions they have already received, he said.
The state GOP will certify and release the county vote on Jan. 18. That’s when the county’s online tallies will be merged with Thursday’s paper ballots to arrive at the final results.
The state convention will elect 18 of the party’s 30 delegates to the national GOP convention in Minneapolis in September.
The Feb. 5 convention was designed in part to grab part of the national spotlight on what Republicans are calling “Super Tuesday.” More than 20 states will be hosting primaries on that date.
But the 1,400 delegates to the state convention should make their choices known in the afternoon, during the slow daytime news cycle.
Republicans will elect nine delegates to the national convention during the state’s traditional May 13 primary. The remaining three seats on the state’s national convention delegation are reserved for the state party’s chairman and its national committeeman and national committeewoman.
The county party has been allotted 25 delegate seats to the Feb. 5 convention but Sabak said he believes the delegation may only number 24.
Sabak, as county GOP chairman, and JoAnn Williams, the county’s female state executive committee member, are automatic delegates. Sabak’s preference is Duncan Hunter, while Williams is an “uncommitted delegate.”
Although Alan Parks, president of the Marion County Commission and the county GOP’s male state executive committee member, also has an automatic seat, he believes he will be unable to attend the state convention, Sabak said. Parks will be sitting on the county’s Board of Equalization and Review in February, Sabak said. Parks could not be reached for comment Friday.
The county GOP has already selected 12 other delegates, leaving the 10 delegates to be picked on Thursday. All but one of the 12 county executive committee delegates are “uncommitted.” Gabriel McCall, one of the 12, is also for Ron Paul, however.
Here are the 20 candidates for the at-large delegate seats and their presidential preferences:
• Barb Albertson — Ron Paul
• Jessica R. Allen — Ron Paul
• Nancy J. Bickerstaff — Rudy Giuliani
• Shari Drennan — Mitt Romney
• John Drennen — Mitt Romney
• William G. Drennen — Mitt Romney
• Eric J. Dyson — Ron Paul
• Heather M. Dyson — Ron Paul
• Jim Fleming — Ron Paul
• David S. Glasscock — Ron Paul
• Jamie Allen Glasscock — Ron Paul
• Galen J. Hansen — Uncommitted
• Jennifer Giles Hansen — Mitt Romney
• Sam R. Julian — Rudy Giuliani
• Glenn Langdon — Ron Paul
• Kenneth McGill — Mitt Romney
• Vicki Jo Rogers — Mitt Romney
• Gregory A. Sabak — Uncommitted
• Shirley J. Stanton — Fred Thompson
• Mitchell Geoff Starr — Ron Paul
More information about Thursday’s election and the state GOP convention is available by calling Chairman Andrew Sabak at 612-4520.
E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.
http://www.timeswv.com/intodayspaper/local_story_364020906.html
Local GOP to get jump on primary
10 at-large delegates to be elected Thursday
By Bill Byrd
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — Marion County Republicans will get a jump on the 2008 presidential primaries when they vote Thursday afternoon to pick 10 at-large delegates to the state GOP convention in Charleston on Feb. 5.
Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in the late 1980s, has the most support among 20 candidates vying for the at-large delegate slots, said Andrew Sabak, the party’s county chairman.
Nine candidates prefer Paul and six say their choice is Mitt Romney. Rudy Giuliani is preferred by two candidates, while one likes Fred Thompson. Two would-be delegates are running as “uncommitted” to any of the party’s presidential hopefuls, Sabak said.
Other Republicans in the presidential primary are Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain and Gene Zarwell.
The election will be in the former city council chambers on the third floor of the J. Harper Meredith building, Sabak said.
“Our ‘county convention’ will be held from 3-7 p.m. Jan. 3,” he said. Balloting will be secret and will follow normal election rules. Voters will use paper ballots.
Republican voters who registered online earlier this year to vote for delegates at the state convention must vote online, following instructions they have already received, he said.
The state GOP will certify and release the county vote on Jan. 18. That’s when the county’s online tallies will be merged with Thursday’s paper ballots to arrive at the final results.
The state convention will elect 18 of the party’s 30 delegates to the national GOP convention in Minneapolis in September.
The Feb. 5 convention was designed in part to grab part of the national spotlight on what Republicans are calling “Super Tuesday.” More than 20 states will be hosting primaries on that date.
But the 1,400 delegates to the state convention should make their choices known in the afternoon, during the slow daytime news cycle.
Republicans will elect nine delegates to the national convention during the state’s traditional May 13 primary. The remaining three seats on the state’s national convention delegation are reserved for the state party’s chairman and its national committeeman and national committeewoman.
The county party has been allotted 25 delegate seats to the Feb. 5 convention but Sabak said he believes the delegation may only number 24.
Sabak, as county GOP chairman, and JoAnn Williams, the county’s female state executive committee member, are automatic delegates. Sabak’s preference is Duncan Hunter, while Williams is an “uncommitted delegate.”
Although Alan Parks, president of the Marion County Commission and the county GOP’s male state executive committee member, also has an automatic seat, he believes he will be unable to attend the state convention, Sabak said. Parks will be sitting on the county’s Board of Equalization and Review in February, Sabak said. Parks could not be reached for comment Friday.
The county GOP has already selected 12 other delegates, leaving the 10 delegates to be picked on Thursday. All but one of the 12 county executive committee delegates are “uncommitted.” Gabriel McCall, one of the 12, is also for Ron Paul, however.
Here are the 20 candidates for the at-large delegate seats and their presidential preferences:
• Barb Albertson — Ron Paul
• Jessica R. Allen — Ron Paul
• Nancy J. Bickerstaff — Rudy Giuliani
• Shari Drennan — Mitt Romney
• John Drennen — Mitt Romney
• William G. Drennen — Mitt Romney
• Eric J. Dyson — Ron Paul
• Heather M. Dyson — Ron Paul
• Jim Fleming — Ron Paul
• David S. Glasscock — Ron Paul
• Jamie Allen Glasscock — Ron Paul
• Galen J. Hansen — Uncommitted
• Jennifer Giles Hansen — Mitt Romney
• Sam R. Julian — Rudy Giuliani
• Glenn Langdon — Ron Paul
• Kenneth McGill — Mitt Romney
• Vicki Jo Rogers — Mitt Romney
• Gregory A. Sabak — Uncommitted
• Shirley J. Stanton — Fred Thompson
• Mitchell Geoff Starr — Ron Paul
More information about Thursday’s election and the state GOP convention is available by calling Chairman Andrew Sabak at 612-4520.
E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.