Wednesday, May 9, 2001
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Wednesday, May 9, 2001 |
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Party faithful endure long contest By Janet
McGregor
The face of the Georgia Republican Party changed substantially Saturday with the help of just over 50 Fayette County Republicans - and a couple of thousand from across the state of Georgia. Saturday ended a spirited race between Ralph Reed, David Shafer and Maria Strollo to head the state Party. The two-day convention was conducted in Cobb County at the Galleria Convention Center. The main purpose of the convention was to elect new party officers, adopt resolutions and new rules if presented, and to promote camaraderie among Republicans. This year the name of past Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed attracted media attention from Georgia to Washington, D.C. and across the country. Speculation by most political pundits was that the race between Reed and Shafer was too close to call. Strollo, a long-time party worker with substantial credentials, was considered a long shot, mainly due to lack of name recognition. Shafer, who ran for secretary of state in 1996 against Lewis Massey and served as executive director of the party, attracted a stronger following. The race between Shafer and Reed was contentious up to the final vote. Due to the perceived closeness of the race, many felt there would be more than one vote in the state chair race. A majority is needed for a "win" and party rules do not force the candidate or candidates with the lowest total to drop out. In races with three or more, if no one concedes it is possible for three or more votes to be taken before a candidate agrees to drop out. When, after the first vote, computer problems occurred, almost immediately Reed supporters began passing out printed flyers stating that it was a delaying tactic by the Shafer campaign. Right on the heels of the flyer from Reed, a flyer from Shafer was circulated saying it was a delaying tactic by the Reed campaign. The longer the convention dragged on, the more supporters drifted off the floor, leaving open the possibility for either a loss of voters needed to make a quorum or an erosion of voting strength for candidates. Ultimately the vote counting was done the slow "old-fashioned" way, manually, bypassing the computers. The convention, which usually lets out early afternoon, crept well into the evening as the party faithful waited to see if their candidate would win, or if a second and possibly third vote would be called for. Surprising most, with the exception of possibly some in the Reed camp, Ralph Reed won a strong majority on the first vote. The final tally was 1,462 votes for Reed, 868 for Shafer and 88 for Strollo. Despite the somewhat bruising tactics of the race between the top two candidates, Shafer and Strollo both called for party unity and Shafer pledged to support the new chairman. In anther surprise twist, all but one of the contested slate of candidates selected by the Nominating Committee to fill other state offices were defeated. The Nominating Committee is charged with interviewing and reviewing the candidates for each office. They select a slate which is presented to the convention body for a vote. Nominations may be made from the floor for challengers. Fifth vice chairman-west candidate Nancy Rinn from Muscogee County was the only candidate on the recommended slate with opposition to win. State Rep. Lyn Westmoreland was honored at the convention as the Republican Legislator of the Year. U.S. Rep. Mac Collins briefly spoke to the crowd, as did seven other Republican congressmen. House Majority Whip Tom Delay was the keynote guest speaker. Local elected officials attending the convention as 3rd District delegates were state Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, Rep. Kathy Cox, County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn, Commissioner Herb Frady and state Solicitor Steve Harris. County Commission candidate Peter Pfeifer served as a delegate and candidate Steve Ott served as an alternate. The county was allotted 60 slots for delegates and had a final voting strength of 51. Bill Byrne, chairman of the Cobb County Commission, and Linda Schrenko, state superintendent of schools, announced their candidacy for governor. State Rep. Bob Irvin (Atlanta) announced that he had filed to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Max Cleland.
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