RPA Musical Chairs

Stripping power from grassroots County Committees?

Involved Republicans in Arkansas can’t help but shake our heads at the continued infighting and pushback from the old guard against newer, grassroots members, so here’s a question: Is taking power away from County Committees a move that will help the RPA achieve its goals? Or, will the RPA closing its ranks against the grassroots obstruct or seriously impair the power of the Republican Party in Arkansas?

“Did You Know?”

As just one example, earlier in 2024 we saw the State Executive Committee cut the grassroots off at the knees by sending out the 2024 Summer Meeting call 107 days in advance, while playing musical chairs at the State Executive Committee in a move to consolidate power.

After she was elected District 2 Chair in March 2023, Jennifer Lancaster took her automatic seat on the State Executive Committee and the musical chairs game became clear. Lancaster saw that Bilenda Harris-Ritter, the Republican designee on the State Board of Election Commissioners, was a voting member on the Executive Committee, a violation of RPA Rules. There was no way around it, Harris-Ritter had to be removed once Lancaster had asked about it.

Why had no other Executive Committee members noticed this Rules violation? We don’t know for sure. We do know that Lancaster was one of the first grassroots-oriented conservatives to serve on the Executive Committee (1st District Chair Sarah Dunklin has led the way here). Lancaster and Dunklin’s outspoken observations have made them (and their grassroots supporters) targets of old guard RPA folks who are working overtime to protect “the way we’ve always done it.”

The Music Plays

After Governor Sarah Sanders “blessed” Joseph Wood and he became RPA Chair in July 2023, Wood appointed attorney Harris-Ritter to be the Executive Committee’s parliamentarian and promoted a Rules change that would have put her Election Commissioner position officially on the Executive Committee. However, that Rules change failed, so Wood started the music again.

Wood then appointed Harris-Ritter as the Rules Committee Chair, pushing off sitting Chair Steve Lux of Saline County, who became Platform/Resolutions Committee Chair (has the music stopped yet!?). However, because only the Rules Committee Chair sits on the State Executive Committee, Lux lost his vote / seat on the Executive Committee to Harris-Ritter.

We all know that Harris-Ritter, as Rules Committee Chair, has now taken it upon her Committee to offer “an advisory opinion” against the 2024 State Convention, when neither she nor the Rules Committee had any authority to do so under the RPA Rules.

Round and Round

What good does this power game of musical chairs do for the strength of Party? What happened to the cries of “unity” we heard from our Arkansas delegation at that RNC convention just a month or so ago? The RPA’s blatant, sustained effort to consolidate power and place favorites on the Executive Committee clearly displays the top-down, control-oriented mentality that’s at the heart of the current conflict the RPA is waging with its grassroots base, the voters.

It was a far cry from good leadership then and it’s obvious the RPA leadership now is hell-bent on ignoring everything the Convention has decided. Instead of being singularly focused on defeating the progressive takeover of our state and our country, it’s the Party leaders who are spending valuable time and treasure on infighting and blocking grassroots-oriented County Committees who sent their delegates to carry out their will at the 2024 State Convention to bring about a long-needed sea change within the Party.

We the people of the Republican Party of Arkansas deserve better. What are we willing to do to get it? What happens to Republicans in Arkansas if we do not?