Facts are stubborn things – John Adams
There has been a lot of talk about the recent 6th District Convention meeting a couple of weeks ago, where the GOP officials of the 6th Congressional District (Scott Sayre being the chair, several SCC members, and the 17 Unit chairs) met and decided on a convention. For the record, this vote was either unanimous or pretty close to it. The “controversy” came out later when it was determined that there would only be one vote to replace Congressman Bob Goodlatte.
For the record, let me state clearly that I am not supporting either Cynthia Dunbar or Ben Cline. Both are personal friends of mine and either or would do an outstanding job as our next Congressman. However, I am a proponent of the truth. And like it or not, there is precedence for the rules proposed by Matt Tederick and those working on behalf of Cynthia Dunbar.
First off, according to the 2016 6th District Convention rules as written by the Rules Committee appointed by Wendell Walker (These rules were adopted unanimously by the Rules Committee and approved by the Convention), they clearly state and I quote:
Candidates for the office of State Central Committee shall be elected by plurality in which the three candidates with the most votes shall be deemed elected.
For the office of Presidential Elector, the winner must be elected by plurality.
These words are straight from the office of the Rules Committee appointed by Wendell Walker. This 2016 Rules Committee included some of the most vocal critics of the rules which were approved by supporters of Cynthia Dunbar. Now the forces who think that we need a multi ballot convention will say (with some sincerity) that the offices of Chair and Regional Vice Chair required a majority. However only Scott Sayre ran for Chair and only one candidate ran for Regional Vice Chair, so that argument is specious at best. Disingenuous is a better word to use. One could also say “hypocritical”.
Currently there are 6 candidates vying to replace Bob Goodlatte. Three of these candidates are quite well known (Dunbar, Cline, and Rockingham Clerk of the Court Chaz Haywood) and three who are lesser known (Ed Justo, Kathryn Lewis, and Chan Park). For those of us who were at the GOP State Convention in 2013, where it took multiple ballots and many hours to determine a winner, we have a life and have other things to do besides stay in a hall all day waiting for votes to be weighed and then counted. Quite frankly, this is a nothing burger dreamed up by some establishment hacks to try and make people on Team Dunbar (aka Matt Tederick) look bad. So let’s be honest, all Mr. Tederick did was to use the wording approved by Roger Jarrell in 2016 and use it for 2018. To the contrary, Mr. Tederick and Ann Fitzgerald and patriots like Ken Adams et al should be praised for making sure that the rules will be known to all delegates months in advance so that everyone can go into the convention with their eyes wide open. Allowing delegates to see the rules and digest them before the convention did not occur in 2016. And for those of us who like facts, a super majority of the 6th CD Committee supported these rules for 2018. The vote to approve these rules being 20-10 in favor of transparency and a plurality – aka letting us get out of the convention at a reasonable time.
So to those who have or are trying to drink this bad Kool Aid given to us by the 6th CD GOP establishment, don’t touch it. Learn the facts. And the facts clearly are – Wendell Walker and the GOP Establishment were for pluralities before they were against them.
