We The People

GOP  On Tuesday night I attended a meeting held to discuss the possibility of Jeff Christopher, the unsuccessful GOP primary candidate, forming and running a write-in campaign.   My best guess at the number of people attending would be about seventy or so.  The invitation asked for friends, family and supporters to attend to discuss and advice Mr. Christopher on how to proceed.

Mr. Christopher is a Republican and if he were to proceed with the write-in  campaign he would likely split the Republican vote and hand the election to the Democrat candidate. So it may be appropriate that so many members of the Sussex County GOP Executive Committee were in attendance.

In fact they may have had a quorum.  One can only assume that they were there to give their advice and guidance to Mr. Christopher. And since many of these people are some of the same people who back in 2010 complained that the GOP establishment wasn’t listening to the rank and file voters, and since they are supposed to be the liaison between the rank and file voters and the GOP machine, I think it would be a good idea for rank and file voters to contact the committee members who obviously are close to Mr. Christopher, and may have some influence  in his decision on whether or not to attempt a write-in campaign. I am sure they will listen since they were so outraged by what they perceived as the establishments ignoring them back in 2010.

The following is a list of names and their position within the Sussex GOP Executive Committee.

  John Rieley, Sussex GOP Chairman

   Fred Silva, Sussex GOP Vice Chairman

   Miguel Pirez-Fabar, Sussex GOP Parliamentarian

   Laurene Purdy,  Election District Chair of the 14th RD

   Tom Jordan, Election District Chair of the 20th RD

   Will Fox, Election District Chair of the 36th RD

   Jim Dundas, RD Chairman of the 36th

   Vincent Calabro, RD Chairman 40th

   Larry Calhoun, Election District Chair of the 40th

   Phil Daisey, Election District Chair of the 40th

   Lacey Lafferty, Election District Chair of the 40th, and supposed candidate for governor 2016

   Scott Witzke, Election District Chair of the 40th

   Matt Opaliski, RD Chairman of the 35th

   Nelly Jordan, Vice Chair of the Delaware State GOP Executive Committee

The following is the  contact information of the Sussex County GOP. I suggest that every rank and file Republican voter contact these members of the Sussex County Executive Committee and voice your opinion of the potential write-in campaign of Jeff Christopher.

P.O. Box 388 Georgetown, DE 19947

Ph: 302.856.6323

Fax: 302.856.6413

http://www.sussexgop.org/

 

  

47 Comments on "We The People"

  1. waterpirate says:

    Nobody but Christopher knows what his end game really is. Hell he may not even know. The cast of charachters you listed is telling as to who is out to get what. IMO Christopher really does not know how to proceed, he stood on the precipice for the primary, and tripped. Gone is the attention, speaking engagements, and so on. He is going to have a hard time letting go of the cult of personality that has defined these past years. He may not know how to be normal anymore.

    If he does launch a write in campaign to retain his cult, it will fail. It will put one more nail in the coffin of the Sussex GOP. We can not afford to lose a row seat, nor humor and entertain the RWNJ any longer. Urge Christopher to take his defeat with grace, and let it go. Run again later if he feels he can hold the cult together that long.

  2. justsaying says:

    Frank, back when COD was a candidate didn’t the Sussex GOP make a resolution that the “Committee” would only support candidates who won their primary as the party’s endorsed candidate? If so, I definately think committee people have some thinking to do and some may even need to excuse themselves from the board!

  3. William Christy says:

    Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Jeff Christopher can not run as a Republican write in since he lost the primary. IMHO the Republicans who voted for Lee should be admonishing those members of the Executive Committee who are supporting a candidate who lost the lawfully held Republican primary. I agree with your assessment Frank, all this will accomplish is handing a victory to the Democrats.

    The efforts and full support of the Sussex County Executive Committee should be for Robert T. Lee. The perception that the Executive Committee does not support Lee is already beginning to reverberate throughout the county.
    WF Christy
    EDC 3rd 36th Didtrict

  4. not surprised says:

    Every member of the SCGOP EC who showed up at that event needs to be removed and Nelly Jordan needs to be ousted as the DEGOP Vice Chair. In 4 short years these people have become worse than the people they threw out. If Charlie Copeland did something like this these same SCGOP ECs would be tripping over each other to censure him. They are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites.

  5. Dave says:

    But hypocrisy is part of the unwritten platform. It’s essence is -something for me, but not for thee. At least that’s the way it is for certain members of the SCGOP (even the DEGOP).

    A government of (certain) people, by (certain) people, and for (certain) people.

    That the SC or DE GOP even participated in such an event, is beyond belief. It’s one thing for a candidate to rally their supporters for advice, support, etc. But when members of the party, in what is perceived as their official capacity participate it does send a message.

    Even so, I would suggest remembering that this is a row office, with no real legacy (stepping stone). As long as you have two able candidates to conduct sheriff sales, the people won’t lose regardless of who wins. Sure the party may fail to win a row office, but really, it’s not about party. What it should be about is governance. As long as we don’t get Christopher, it’s a win for everybody. Of course, I’m an independent (unaffiliated) so, it’s never about party to me. It’s all about the candidate.

  6. JS says:

    Dave, your “certain” people quote reminded me of something written by Mike Royko back in the 60s (he was a wickedly funny columnist for a Chicago newspaper whose column was carried, in syndication by the old Wilmington Morning News) . It went “The people who say “power to the people” really mean power to the people who say “power to the people”. Can you imagine the howls if the shoe was on the other foot and Lee lost by 21 votes and was discussing a write in campaign? My prediction is that Christopher will milk this for all its worth… “Is he going to run; isn’t he going to run?”… so that he remains the news story on 105.9 and 92.7 until 9/30. On 9/30, shortly after noon with the media in tow, he’ll register at the Dept. of elections in Georgetown as a write in candidate. On leaving the building the sound byte will be “I’ve prayed about this decision for three weeks, I’ve talked it over with my family for days, I’ve spoken for hours to the people who supported me in the primary and I’ve taken countless phone calls from citizens who couldn’t vote in the Republican primary . My duty isn’t to the party, my duty is to the people who believe in a Constitutional sheriff. That is why I registered today as a write in candidate.” Mark my words, he’s going to say that God, family, supporters and those disenfranchised by the system have told him to run.

  7. waterpirate says:

    OMG! I hope you are wrong in that scenario prediction.

  8. Itsawonderfulworld says:

    You know he’ll have to throw Godmin there.,

  9. Frank Knotts says:

    Sorry WP, but JS may have hit it word for word, it is exactly what I expect as well. The only question that remains is who among his “advisers” from within the Executive Committee, will transition into supporters of his write-in campaign?
    The moment that happens they go from being merely irrelevant, to being detrimental to the political process.
    And to answer Just Saying’s question, I believe there was a resolution, and let us not forget that they ran both Ron Sams and Tom Ross out of their positions because they felt that these men had not supported Christine O’Donnell as the endorsed GOP candidate, and actually accused them of working for her opposition. Supporting a write-in candidate against the endorsed GOP candidate is not different.
    And yes before someone else points it out, I played my part in that movement, but I have grown, and matured in the way I attempt to move the political ball on a much larger filed.

  10. justsaying says:

    Frank, we all make mistakes. But you are correct a vote was taken and Mr. Sams was asked to resign and Mr. Ross was censured for not showing to support to COD or Urquhart in the general election. Both ended up stepping down to try and fix the party. Here is what the saviors have done since!

    John Reilly- Ran Sussex Campaign for COD and made the argument against the GOP committee for not supporting COD. He is currently chairman of Sussex GOP and is watching as the primary winner for sheriff is being shafted. He even showed at the sheriff’s meeting and allowing board to support the primary LOSER.
    The interim chairman following Sams leaving was Vance Phillips- has been voted out of office and was too asked to leave by the Sussex GOP board and is awaiting trials for sex offenses
    The board member who was doing the censures was- “Not” Don Ayotte who is no longer on the board and is in fact opposing Republican candidates.
    Bill Colley-was the voice behind the madness- since he has been fired and was last heard supporting Mr. Phillips in his losing campaign.
    Eric Bodenweiser- Who supported the Sheriff and tried to arrange the back room deal between sheriff and Phillips. Next thing you know it was note pads and nut shots. Now he is sitting on Home Confinement awaiting retrial.

    The “tea party, ultra conservative movement” hasn’t worked and it’s time to accept defeat of your strategy and your Sheriff of Nutingham. I like low taxes, I like less government, I think our children need God and the Bible. I believe in 2nd Amendment. But we need to do it the right way.

    Frank- can you think of anything I missed.

  11. Frank Knotts says:

    Naw, I’m good!

  12. Frank Knotts says:

    Actually on second thought, there is one other thing Republicans need to do, WIN! No win, no govern, no govern and all the principles in the world will come to nothing.

  13. John Rieley says:

    Frank, this is not only mis-reporting, you are intentionaly misleading. That is the same as a lie. Your credibility with me is finished. The reason I was at the meeting Tuesday was to present the case against a write in attempt by the Sheriff. You did not mention that in your fictional story and you allow the reader to draw an erroneous conclusion. Shame on you.

  14. waterpirate says:

    Nice summation of past events!

    I was called out for callling the primary race akin to the pendulum swinging. The point that was missed is that pendulums are balanced. So even though it was by a margin of only 21, it has moved in another direction.

    I think that party committee members who are supporting the loser of the primary should all join the Pod immediately. You can not be a member and then claim to be acting as a private citizen. If you wish to be a private citizen, then resign. Otherwise you should support the winning candidate, or be silent and nuetral.

    I also blame JR for not making this clear, or only when it suits him. They chose to hold a vote on Frank, where is the vote on the committee members who appear to be ” off the reservation”?

  15. Frank Knotts says:

    Mr. Rieley, I did not relate what any of the Committee members who attended the meeting said, pro, or con write-in, nor did I relate my personal view of which course of action any of the attendees backed. If I had detailed what you had to say, I then would have had to relate what other members of the Committee said and which course of action they prefer, would you have wanted me to do that? I did say above however, “Mr. Christopher is a Republican and if he were to proceed with the write-in campaign he would likely split the Republican vote and hand the election to the Democrat candidate. So it may be appropriate that so many members of the Sussex County GOP Executive Committee were in attendance.” This would include you.
    Since there is no official write-in campaign, I personally see no problem with Republican Committee members being in attendance at this meeting.
    I attempted to encourage rank and file members to contact the Committee members in order to voice their views, so that those Committee members who have influence with Mr. Christopher could honestly represent those views as EDs and RDs.
    That was the sole intention of this post, not to attack anyone by omission or otherwise. My apologies if you have misunderstood the intentions here.

  16. JS says:

    I am still seeing Christopher’s signs. Has the Committee required him to take down his signs? They are false and misleading. In that they use the word “Republican” and he clearly is not the republican candidate for Sheriff.

  17. not surprised says:

    Maybe if Reilly didn’t have a history of backing primary losers this wouldn’t be an issue. Next time stay home and people won’t speculate on what you’re doing at (another) support meeting for a republican primary loser who wants to run a write in. Try a phone call.

    Now what’s Nelly Jordan’s excuse?

    Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

  18. For Instance says:

    Rieley is right Frank, you only tell your distorted of the truty. John Rieley and the traitorous loser Erric Boye did everything they could to dissuade the Sheriff from running a write-in candidacy.
    One thing Eric Boye and his group of ex- military jackasses for to say was that: If you don’t enter a battle, YOU CANNOT WIN!

  19. William Christy says:

    For instance thats funny since private messages being sent to me by someone close to the Sheriff contradict that

  20. William Christy says:

    Eric Boye does not and has never held any official state leadership role with Oath Keepers.

  21. Dave says:

    Unofficially then?

  22. William Christy says:

    Dave I would have to say yes.
    I am no longer affiliated with Oath Keepers, I resigned as the state of Delaware Coordinator on 07/01/2014.

  23. justsaying says:

    Mr. Rieley, since we know your reading this I want to say a few things. First, I don’t think you can accuse or blame Frank for misleading people. Frank was at the meeting he just revealed who was in attendance and most of them are known supporters of the Sheriff. Think after the results were finalized Friday had you declared Mr. Lee the Sussex GOP’s endorsed candidate for Sheriff it probably would have helped and maybe prevented this altogether.

    Second, you had Mr. Knotts removed from the Sussex GOP Comittee recently for causing issues with the party. Look at your RD and ED in attendance- not to mention two of those people have made public comments that they won’t support the GOP’s nominee or “boot licker” Mr. Lee, as one person called him in the General Election.

    Mr. Rieley, I think it is time for you to take action. Primaries stink but they are over and the GOP is to support and elect GOP primary winners. You need to enforce that and if they don’t like that maybe should treat them as you did Mr. Knotts.

  24. Frank Knotts says:

    JS, the Committee has no powers or authority over Mr. Christopher, which is obvious since as Mr. Rieley pointed out, he expressed his concern as the Sussex Chairman of a write-in.
    “For Instance”, please show me anything in my post that is false. Or take my previous advice.

  25. Miquel Martinez says:

    From: Charlie Copeland
    Date: Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 8:28 AM
    Subject: Respect the Republican Primary Votes
    To: Daniel Short , Carol Bodine , Kim Warfield , Bill Smith , Bobby Robles , Brittany Griffiths , Cathy Murray , Dave Gilefski , Ellen Barosse , John Fluharty , Hank McCann , John Rieley , Laird Stabler , Lewis Briggs , “Ms. Mary Spicer” , Mike Smith , Nelly Jordan , “Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Manolakos” , Richard Forsten , Rick Carroll , Rob Stout , “Hon. & Mrs. F. Gary Gary Simpson” , Tom Kovach , Tom Wagner

    I did want to re-enforce one of the messages from this weekend’s Convention… The Republican Party State Committee and Executive Committee sent a strong message in 2010 —Republicans want to have Primary Elections to determine our candidates.

    One week ago we held those elections, and we have our candidates. As members of the Executive Committee, it is our role as leaders to reflect and promote the values of our Party — and that means that we need to focus all of our attentions on helping our Republican candidates get elected. This means that we should not assist the losers of Primaries switch Parties or run write-in campaigns.

    Look, I’ve lost elections — and it stinks. However, Republicans have made their choice. We are the leaders of the Republican Party, which means that we need to respect the will of the people & support the winners.

    Warmest Regards,
    Charlie Copeland

    Chairman – Delaware Republican State Committee
    Phone: 302-377-1465

  26. justsaying says:

    after chairman Copeland’s response I have nothing further to say but kudos.

  27. justsaying says:

    Frank, I understand that and agree, the Sheriff will do what he wants. I guess I should have said that Mr. Rieley should enforce the GOP committee members that the committee doesn’t and will not use their position to support Sheriff Christopher. As I said before behind the curtain they can vote for Christopher if they choose, but as Committee people they should be endorsing the party candidate or at least refraining from discrediting Mr. Lee. If they can’t this then they should be asked to leave the committee

  28. William Holt says:

    Frank, you point out that Sussex base voters were outraged in 2010 because they felt ignored by the establishment. The Sussex base was not ignored in 2010. We know quite well who they wanted to run. That was the problem. Most Republicans outside of Sussex took a good hard look at the candidate Sussex wanted to replace Mike Castle. Mike Castle was a tried and true journeyman. He more than earned his right to run for United States Senator. Earned through hard work and service. His Delaware roots are deep and strong. He was our Majority Leader in the State House. Our Governor. Our Representative in Congress. A tried true well respected political leader. There is something to be said for politics being a meritocracy. When a GOP candidate works hard, proves themselves in office, serves with distinction, wins many elections over many many years – common sense tells us that’s the person that deserves our support.

  29. Frank Knotts says:

    William Holt, I am sorry if I wasn’t clear, in 2010 that base was angry that GOP leadership did not seem to back the endorsed candidate, the winner of the primary.

  30. William Holt says:

    I understand the clarification, but I also clearly understand why the Party leadership did not back that particular candidate. That particular candidate was not fit for that high office. I voted Republican all my life for every office – until that one.

  31. Frank Knotts says:

    Well William, like the recent primary, that one is also in the past.

  32. William Holt says:

    For sure, but there are lessons to be learned.

  33. Nomo TpArT says:

    Reilly and his band of out of touch idiots should just go ahead and go Ipod like their hero Don Ayote. Then they can go support their crazy ass sheriff in his big comeback. Please go help him, he can win, maybe Dog Catcher!

  34. Frank Knotts says:

    Just for the record, John Rieley spoke against the write-in.

  35. waterpirate says:

    While CP’s e-mail is the correct response and one of clear action, JR’s is not. JR’s reaction shows and sends a ” mixed message to the EC. If he is standing by CP’s e-mail, his speaking to the posse about it is the wrong message and mixed at best. His message should have been sent to every member of the EC. Those members who refused to follow direction should have been asked to modify their behaviour or leave the EC and act as private citizens.

    These kinds of continued distractions and shenanigans only continues to devide the party, not unite it. Better to have fewer EC members that follow leadership, than a undisciplined rabble.
    YMMV

  36. Gerald says:

    Frank,

    Here we are as the wanna be Jimmy Olsen cub reporter who feels compelled to write the Sussex County GOP executive committee names on this internet blog site which by the way got you thrown out of the Sussex County GOP executive committee the last time you did the very same thing. Your behaviour as well as the people who allow you to use this internet forum for derisive means shows lack of character on the behalf of this site and yourself. In the fact the very name of this site is more actually described as Delaware Destroyers. You and this site do more harm than good. It shows through ignorance.

  37. waterpirate says:

    Soooo, it is o.k. to not support the winner of a primary by attending a function that was clearly intended to grow support/sedddition from the party?

    From the movie ” either you is my constituents, or you aint?”

    Blameing Frank for the blatent actions of others is truly rich. Pot calling the kettle? Anyone?

  38. Gerald says:

    Ignorance is Bliss among the blog site participates. The meeting held last Tuesday night was disseminated through the media to where ALL as in PUBLIC was invited. Do your research before you write. But than again, the usual blog participates are always misinformed.

  39. Geezer says:

    Perhaps you should learn from this that proclaiming one tactic or another off-limits always comes back to bite you. Today’s write-in candidate may be tomorrow’s incumbent. Only a fool listens to appeals about what a “real conservative” or “real Republican” would do.

    The options for an incumbent defeated in a primary and its recount are clear: Accept the result and endorse the victor; accept the result and fail to endorse the victor (or, in very rare cases, endorse the opposing party’s candidate); fight the result by lawsuit; fight the result by running as a write-in.

    Given the close result and small portion of the electorate participating, any of these options is viable for Jeff Christopher, as it would be for any candidate in his position.

    Y’all want to pretend this is about principles; conservatives fall all over themselves pretending everything is about principles. It’s about tactics and raw power, just as everything in politics always is.

    Talk of principles is perfuming a skunk. But I didn’t mean to drag Vance Phillips into this.

  40. Honi Soit says:

    Gerald means to write “participants” (the noun) rather than “participates” (the verb). If he had chosen the wrong part of speech just once, he’d get a pass. But twice in the same posting looks like he’s internalized the error.

  41. Dave says:

    It’s a tell telltale sign of someone who is used to conversational English but has little use for or experience in the written word (reading or writing) because in conversation the words have a very similar pronunciation (the “ants” is often slurred). So too, is the capitalization of “Bliss” as if it were a formal name.

    This is only a blog, so who cares? Still, I am always curious about the writer and their familiarity with language. Regardless, another indictment of our educational system. The question is, Cape Henlopen, Indian River, or somewhere else?

  42. Dave says:

    “Y’all want to pretend this is about principles; conservatives fall all over themselves pretending everything is about principles. It’s about tactics and raw power, just as everything in politics always is.”

    @geezer, I agree, but power is not the penultimate objective. I think it’s about their changing world and their place in it. In short, fear. If they can hold back the tide of change, they won’t have to learn anything new or do anything any different than they have always done. It’s really about the good old days and how to keep them, or restore them, at least for themselves. At least that’s my guess!

  43. waterpirate says:

    OFFS!
    Yes everyone was invited, as in the public, however I will not attend many open public functions due to conflicts of interest and or moral stability. By your definition if the public was invited to a pig $hit buffet, you would go cause you are the public?

    Does no one understand the concept of descretion anymore? By attending that function the members of the SCEC sent a mixed, unclear message, which seems to their norm.

  44. Frank Knotts says:

    Gerald, those names are already published publically on the Sussex GOP site, they by running for the positions within the party put themselves in a public position. They are supposed to be available to the rank and file voters as organizers and relators of information.
    It would seem that you have a problem with their names being associated with the meeting in question. But as I stated in the original post, that since there is as of yet no official write-in campaign, I have no problem with them attending the meeting.
    As for my being voted out of the Committee? Yes I was, so now they have no arrows left in their quiver. But it is interesting that the same interpretation of the committee rules that were applied to me, could in many cases be applied to others in the room that night.
    Geezer, I have never said that Christopher doesn’t have the right to choose the course of the write-in, I have merely pointed out that it would most surely hand the election to the Democrat, and that members of the Sussex GOP Committee should consider that when advising him on his future course of action.
    Let me again say, that John Rieley did the right thing and spoke against the write-in, which is what you would expect the Chairman to do.

  45. waterpirate says:

    Now that Christopher HAS filed as a write in, is it credible? IMHO to win a write in campaign would take a media and advertiseing blitz the size of which has never been seen in Sussex. Thus far I have heard narry a wisper. Is it credible or is he still just tilting windmills as his last 5 minutes expire?

  46. Frank Knotts says:

    Ego’s last struggle, nothing more.

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