Image Credit: Tennessee Republican Party & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
The GOP State Executive Committee (SEC) held a meeting on Saturday, December 7th where things became contentious over two proposed bylaw amendments and party leadership elections.
In an interview with SEC member Chris Morris (Dist. 28), the Tennessee Conservative was provided with details about the day’s heated events.
Each county Republican Party is governed by its County Executive Committee (CEC), and per the state GOP bylaws they are comprised of the local party officers, two SEC members, and two recognized auxiliary club representatives- one local Tennessee Federation of Republican Women (TFRW) club President and the local Young Republicans (YR) Chair should the county have a chapter.
The two proposed amendments to the bylaws would have affected Articles 6 and 8 by removing the auxiliary organizations from County Executive Committees and the Administrative Subcommittee of the SEC.
The primary arguments in favor of the removals revolved around the fact that these auxiliary organizations are not accountable to either CECs or the state and since the party holds no authority over their members or club activities, the auxiliaries therefore should not have a voting right in governance of the GOP at either level. A correct line of thinking according to our source.
Morris explained, “They don’t follow our party bylaws. They are not elected by their local county republican party; they are elected internally by their own group following their own bylaws. A lot of people have a misnomer that the SEC governs the TFRW and YRs, even some of our state legislators think this. We do not. If they were to terminate their own bylaws and come under the umbrella of the state party bylaws, I’d be ok with that. If they’re not comfortable with that, then they should run for a CEC position, a real seat at the table.”
He also elaborated that there is no reciprocity offered by these auxiliary organizations in return for their votes and places within the party at state or county levels. Basically, though they have voting power to determine the direction of the party, an SEC committeewoman does not have a seat on the TFRW governing board, nor is there a CEC or SEC representative amongst Young Republican leadership or boards.
“If you don’t follow our party bylaws, why should you have a voting seat at our table? I welcome your opinion and your input, but for you to have a voting right, no,” Morris summarized.
According to the numbers provided to Morris by the SEC Secretary, though both amendments failed, the votes were extremely close with the Article 6 amendment resulting in 28 in favor and 31 opposed, and the Article 8 amendment split 28 for and 30.
Morris believes more SEC members were in favor of the amendments but ultimately caved in the face of vehement opposition from certain vocal county party chairs and representatives from the TFRW and Young Republicans who attended the meeting to express their displeasure.
“Members of the SEC felt bullied by some other SEC members but also by the uproar of the TFRW and YRs in the gallery,” relayed Morris.
Some of these TFRW members also hold CEC or SEC positions as Presidents of local women’s clubs and therefore would have lost their votes at the county and state levels with the amendments’ passage which, for some SEC members, raises questions about conflicts of interest. One county party chair even called upon local party members to back his opposition to the amendments.
Doug Englen, Chair of the Montgomery County GOP and SEC member, sent an email to local members stating, “I am strictly against this proposal and asking for your advocacy by attending this session.”
Of note, Doug’s wife, Tina Englen, is the President of the Montgomery County Republican Women and would therefore have lost her seat on the CEC should the amendment have passed.
The party leadership elections, where Scott Golden was reelected for the fifth time and Morris lost his bid for Treasurer by six votes, also faced contention and according to Morris, important rules regarding proxy voting may have been violated, calling into question the credibility of voting for the amendments.
There was also no parliamentarian present to help interpret the rules and bylaws, keep order or, “to act in our best interest on this crucial bylaw change.”
Hopefully the next meeting, through Morris’ advocacy, will feature both a parliamentarian and sergeant-at-arms.
Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
