Very interesting, what a little birdie whispered in my ear…
True to his word, newly chosen NH GOP Chair Chris Ager did what he said he would do – get a vote as to his replacement (he’s not going to hold both the Chair and RNC Committeeman positions – setting an example that should be followed going forward) at last night’s NH GOP EBoard.
Sidenote: yes, a signal to those who, in the past, decided that having a “double-dipping two votes” on the EBoard by holding two positions should be no longer.
It didn’t end as expected. A nominating committee was quickly assembled with Chris Buda, JR Hoell, and Chris Maidment (all three supporters of Chris Ager). Those that were analyzed and put forward by the committee to the EBoard were:
- Corey Lewandowski (his letter to Chris Ager notifying him of his intent is below)
- Bill O’Brien
- Gary Whitehill
- Vikram Mansharamani
- Will Infantine
First up in the docket was Lewandowski – again, I come back to that phrase “It didn’t go well”. While Chris Ager said that Corey was his nominee over the other four (with words from my sources but haven’t verified them yet of “uniquely qualified,” a “man’s man,” and able to immediate getting “$40,000 checks” alongside preferred “green room seats” with major donors at Republican events [perhaps a bit of paraphrasing going on there]).
Yeah, that didn’t go over well at all as I was told that quite a few members of THIS EBoard started to “voice concerns” over not just Lewandowski (to be “kind” hasn’t had a lot of favorable press lately) and the methodology that had been put into place. I was informed that Thad Riley said that “any press is good press” (I’m not so sure of that, Thad), and a political icon was needed for the position. Er, not so fast on that “icon” bit, too.
And then the thunderstorm opened up. A number of folks sent the lightning bolts down stating how Corey had treated them (no, not with kid gloves to be sure). Given Lewandowski’s history with women, they certainly had stories. However, some men also chimed in as well. While I wasn’t there and don’t know how many were pushing back, Ager did try to “save” Lewandowski’s nomination by asking for support on this candidate. He even told the attendees that RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel approved of Lewandowski. Sure, she won by a 2-1 (3-1?) to keep that RNC Chairmanship over Harmeet Dhillonbut it was clear that she was having her own problems with grassroots types in the run-up to the vote as well. That wasn’t persuasive and the little birdie just said “a bazooka of unforced errors”.
He did not get the 2/3rds majority needed to become the new NH GOP RNC Committeeman.
However, it was reported that none of the others were considered last night and that another meeting will have to take up those nominations. It’s also clear that the makeup of this new EBoard has brought a new philosophy with it that will need to be assauged and taken into account by this new Chair.
Minds of their own – ALL of them.
Well, I said that GraniteGrok was going to continue to watch Chris Ager and the NH GOP going forward. Now being closer to home, rather than at the RNC, will make that much easier.
Corey Lewandowski’s Letter
