Some last minute drama has been injected into the race for chairman of the Republican National Committee as a national committeeman from the Ron Paul wing of the party is mounting a last minute effort to challenge Reince Priebus for chairman.
But as he tries to get support for his bid, Mark Willis of Maine is facing questions from other Republicans on the committee about whether he broke party rules and supported Paul as a write-in for president over GOP nominee Mitt Romney in the 2012 general election, The Daily Caller has learned.
The reason for these questions: Willis was actually listed on the 2012 general election ballot in Maine as a declared write-in running mate to Paul, the Texas libertarian.
Had he voted for himself and Paul over Romney, Willis could be removed from the committee, according to party rules. Republican Party rule 4(b) says, “The Republican National Committee shall have the power to declare vacant the seat of any member who refuses to support the Republican nominee for President of the United States or Vice President of the United States.”
But in an interview with The Daily Caller on Thursday, Willis strongly disputed that he supported Paul in the general election and said he had nothing to do with being listed as a write-in candidate on the ballot. He said he supported Romney.
“I had nothing to do with it,” Willis said by phone of his addition to the ballot. “I had no knowledge of it. No consent. I found out about it after the fact. After it had been done.”
Critics on the committee, however, remain skeptical, pointing out that Willis did not try to have his name removed. He also didn’t publicly denounce his addition to the ballot.
“When it was brought to my attention, I had to make a judgment call as to what is the right thing to do for the state of Maine,” Willis explained to TheDC. “And I made the judgment call to just not do anything, keep it quiet, don’t talk about it, don’t draw attention to it.”
Read more:
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/17/dr...#ixzz2IG0s7p5v
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