Did feuding Lexington County Republicans oust their chairwoman? Well, they can’t agree
Lexington County Republicans voted to remove their county party chairwoman, but whether the embattled leader — who is now suing party members who stand against her — will accept the action is doubtful.
Amid an ongoing leadership dispute and general dysfunction in the county party’s organization, a faction of Lexington County Republican Party members who want to see Pamela Godwin ousted as chairwoman have gathered the support of two-thirds of executive committee members they believe is needed to remove Godwin from her leadership seat. The faction now plans to move forward with an election to pick a new county party chair.
However, state Republican Party rules might stop the county party from firing its leader. Those state rules don’t include any way for a county party to remove an elected officer unless they’re unable to serve because of a disability or they’ve been absent from three consecutive meetings.
The only other way to get rid of a county party leader is for them to resign.
Godwin led a slate of candidates in April who were elected to two-year terms for chairman and vice chairmen of the county party’s steering committee.
But that slate fractured, and two of Godwin’s former allies, First Vice Chairman Mark Weber and Third Vice Chairman John Allen, gathered signatures from two-thirds of the party’s executive committee on a petition that said Godwin illegally removed the party treasurer, illegally suspended elected officers and illegally withdrew party money from county party bank accounts, among other accusations.
Godwin called the petition and accusations “BLATANTLY FALSE!” in a post on one of two Facebook pages claiming to be run by the Lexington County Republican Party.
In an interview Tuesday, Godwin characterized the moves by Weber and Allen as “an attempted coup.”
“I am the Duly elected LCRP Chairwoman and all America 1st folks are moving forward in the party together as a team!” Godwin wrote in a Facebook post over the weekend. “That includes most everyone except the ‘splinter group’ Mark has appeared to trick and deceive because of his apparent desire for power and status. Many in the party are praying that people that have been lured into this ‘splinter group’ led by Mark and John , will see the light about them and find their way back to the like-minded friends they have known for YEARS, not months!”
In Godwin’s post, she said not all who signed on to the petition against her are proper voting members of the executive committee.
“You will never see 56 written signatures,” Godwin said in an interview Tuesday.
A memo written by the county party’s temporary Treasurer Salvatore Elvezio and David Cunniffe, who is serving on the party’s finance committee, was released by Godwin and discusses an audit of the party’s finances.
The audit found no money was ever used by Godwin for her personal use. It also states Godwin only moved party money to a new bank account when the original party treasurer refused to give Godwin financial documents and the party checkbook.
“It is our belief that the chairwoman, Pamela Godwin acted swiftly, in good faith, and in the best interest of the members of the Lexington County Republican Party,” Elvezio and Cunniffe wrote in the memo.
Weber, however, casts doubt on the veracity of the audit.
“An independent audit? How does that work with two members of the organization doing it and one of them is the interim treasurer?” Weber said Monday. “I don’t know how that works.”
The two factions Monday continued to have dueling meetings, Facebook pages and websites, effectively operating as separate organizations that both claim to be the Lexington County Republican Party. The Weber-Allen faction has now even discussed opening its own bank account after Godwin transferred party money from one account into an account her faction controls.
Ahead of Monday’s dueling meetings, Godwin’s faction through its committee of discipline filed small claims lawsuits for roughly $7,000 against Allen, Weber, party treasurer Jackie Fowler and Preston Baines, who handles information technology and website for the county party. In two of the filings shared by party members, the Godwin faction is asking a magistrate judge to order Allen and Baines pay about $7,000 each in damages.
Godwin’s faction alleges Allen, Baines, Fowler and Weber have engaged in libelous activity against her and took control of the original Facebook page from her.
Allen called the magistrate filings an intimidation tactic.
“We are not going to back down with people trying to intimidate and bully,” Allen said. “They can throw everything they can at us, but the way we move forward through this is one praying and trusting in God that he has our back and he’s in total control, but also making sure that we are sticking together.”
Now the Weber-Allen faction plans to hold new leadership elections next month in order to move forward without Godwin.
Weber pointed to a state party rule that says no party officer, delegate or alternate “may be a party to any legal action against the party at any level or against party officers in their official capacities.”
Filing legal action would result in an immediate vacancy of their position, the state party rules say.
“We’re trying to keep everything going so we can continue to move forward because, guess what, we actually have real business to do,” Weber told his party gathering.
But the dysfunction between the two factions has been distressful to outside observers.
“The job of any Republican county party organization is to help us grow our numbers and organize in order to register voters, turn-out voters and win on Election Day,” said S.C. GOP Chairman Drew McKissick. “Anything that doesn’t help accomplish that goal is a waste of time and resources.”
This story was originally published September 12, 2023 at 12:59 PM.
