GOP Grassroots Flex at 2024 State Convention

Elected delegates approve RPA platform & Rules changes

Arkansas Republicans voted to close the state's primary elections, among other major Party changes enacted on June 8 when over 650 locally elected delegates turned out for the 2024 Biennial State Convention held in Rogers, Arkansas.

Starting off against tradition, delegates representing the state’s County Committee members shut out RPA Chair Joseph Wood in a 58%-42% paper ballot, hand-counted vote to elect 2nd District Chair Jennifer Lancaster as the Biennial Convention Chair.

Delegates approved a flexible agenda and several timely, properly submitted changes to both the Party platform and Rules, even though the state Platform & Resolutions Committee and Rules Committee had failed to distribute the submitted proposals to County Committees accompanied by the usual “recommended / not recommended / neutral” designations.

As the Convention began, RPA Secretary Julie Harris, Chair of the Credentials Committee, had already caused massive confusion by withholding the Convention credentials, which resulted in the body spending several hours to determine proper delegates. * Several delegates from a handful of counties were ultimately deemed ineligible to vote, as they had not been elected by their respective County Committees at the biennial County Convention per the RPA Rules. (After they were deemed ineligible, some of those delegates continued to refuse to turn in their delegate badges, taking up even more time in the floor proceedings.)

Even after credentials were corrected, the chaos created by inactions on RPA’s behalf caused the Convention — which began at noon — to be evicted at about 6:30 pm from the RPA-reserved Convention meeting room. RPA Executive Director Seth Mays had first told Lancaster that the Convention could go over the pre-arranged meeting time (4 hours) by an extra hour but after meeting with hotel staff he directed that the room be vacated, saying the hotel had to prepare the room for a next-day event.

Delegates continued the Convention in a smaller meeting room without a sound system until the Convention recessed at 10pm to avoid a quorum call.

Overcoming all the roadblocks, the 2024 Biennial State Convention, the “final authority in all party matters” per RPA Rules, completed its statutory biennial tasks and ultimately did certify 4th District Chair Eddie Arnold as National Committeeman and State Rep. Mindy McAlindon of Benton County as National Committeewoman. The Republican primary nominees and RNC delegates were ratified as well — all mandated tasks as legal responsibilities of the Republican Biennial State Convention.

RESOLUTIONS passed include

• RPA-appointed members of the Rules and Platform/Resolutions Committees cannot be a lobbyist, current state lawmaker, staffer of a constitutional officer, or political consultant;

• ensuring future State Conventions are held within 35 air miles of the State Capitol (central Arkansas area);

• setting up a new Committee (District Committee chairs + volunteer attorneys) to work with the Board of Election Commissioners on implementing closed primaries; and

• billing the RPA for expenses incurred due to delay tactics that extended the June 8 Convention to 10+ hours.

The RPA has not yet publicly commented on a timeframe for when the Arkansas Republican party platform and Rules documents will be amended to reflect these changes that delegates overwhelmingly approved at the 2024 State Convention:

RULES CHANGES:

• Closed primaries

• Republican candidates must be a registered Republican voter.

• Certain elected officials — who are automatic State Committee members per the RPA Rules — are non-voting State Committee members (but may run for a voting delegate position in their County Committee, just like any other County Committee member). This Rules change conforms with majority of other State Committees as well as RPA Rule 168.

• Adds two Representatives to the State Committee that are elected by each County Committee (ensures adequate representation of County Committees on the State Committee)

• Altering District Committees:
  1. All GOP elected officials (+ Constables) are now automatic ex-officio voting members of the District Committee.

  2. County Committees will add elected members to the District Committee equal to the number of ex-officio District Committee members from that County

• Members of Rules & Platform/Resolutions Committees will be elected by District Committees; RPA Chair names Committee Chairs

• Prohibit endorsements by constitutional officers / federal elected officials in State Executive Committee races. (County Committee are already prohibited from endorsements in Republican primaries because the candidate field is made up of all Republicans, giving all Republicans an equal shot at being the final elected choice.)

PLATFORM CHANGES:

• Partisan judicial races

• Anti-ESG / social credit scores

• Support Jackson v. Dobbs (changed from “Roe v. Wade” reference)

• Anti-globalism (anti-WHO, anti-WEF, etc.)

• Support medical freedom (anti-medical mandates, etc.) and economic freedom

• Support for 1967 original Freedom of Information law

• Support election integrity (hand-counted paper ballots)

* In addition to allowing (overseeing?) the malfeasance of the Rules Committee, Platform & Resolutions Committee and Credentials Committee, RPA officials are also refusing (as of publication date) to release the official delegates list to the 2024 Convention Chair so that the Convention can be properly notified and called back to order to handle any other business that needs to be addressed.