Republican Party of Kentucky Moves to Muzzle McConnell Censures
The Republican Party of Kentucky (RPK) has decided to try to silence those county Republican Parties that have censured Mitch McConnell, that's according to Bob Barney of the Jessamine County Republican Party
WILMORE, Ky., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Republican Party of Kentucky (RPK) has decided to try to silence those county Republican Parties that have censured Mitch McConnell. One of the more recent censures of McConnell, by the Hardin County Republican Party, faced a complaint/appeal from its very own Chair Cheryl Benitez. Benitez wrote a letter of complaint after she lost her opposition to censure McConnell in a 24-14 vote.
The Benitez letter of complaint to the 2nd district of the RPK was joined by three other county officers. The letter said that the county Republican Party had no right to issue a censure and that the county can only support Republican candidates not oppose them.
The RPK has agreed with Benitez but bases its decision on the peculiar idea that the Republican Party of Hardin County cannot censure Mitch McConnell because McConnell is NOT actually a member of the Hardin County Republican party. They base their argument upon Robert's Rules of Order.
Bobbie Coleman speaking for the Hardin county party said, "It amazes me the lengths to which the Republican Party of Kentucky will go to defend a Republican politician who has gone directly against the platform of the Republican Party. Their decision to rule our censure out of order is without precedent and was made by people with close ties to Mitch McConnell who should have recused themselves from the process. McConnell broke with our party in supporting gun control, and our censure was an appropriate response."
Coleman is referring to McConnell's vote for the "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act". That bill provided almost a billion dollars in subsidies to states which enacted Red Flag laws. Coleman pointed to the Republican Party platform which states in the second paragraph of the section titled, "The Second Amendment: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms":
"We also oppose any effort to deprive individuals of their right to keep and bear arms without due process of law."
Hardin County is one of 10 counties listed at http://www.censuremitch.com that have censured McConnell for voting for that gun control legislation. The website was created by Bob Barney who is the spokesperson for the Jessamine County censure of McConnell. Barney has added a new webpage at http://www.censuremitch.com/hardin where there are links to all the documents related to the Hardin censure. These include the appeal by Benitez, the decision of the 2nd district committee and the latest the appeal made by Hardin to the state party to have the 2nd district decision overturned.
Barney said, "Unlike the presentation by Benitez and Laura Larue, former 2nd district chair, the Hardin County authors of the censure have been fully transparent in everything they have done. It's all on the website for anyone to review. The Hardin County members have faced opposition and tricks every step of the way. They should be thanked for defending the party platform."
Barney thinks that the state will uphold the 2nd district decision. He said, "The fix has been in from the start and I believe the state collaborated in this lame excuse to strike down the censure. If the state upholds the 2nd district decision, an appeal will have to be made to the Republican National Committee."
The RNC has its own history of issuing censures to Republican politicians, most recently Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Barney pointed out that neither of those politicians are part of the RNC's committee. Barney added, "If the RNC did strike down this improper Robert's Rules of Order decision, then their own censures and the censures published by other Republican groups in other states would all be branded as out of order. Not even McConnell made that argument when he said that the RNC had no business censuring politicians."
Media Contact
Robert (Bob) Barney, Jessamine County Republican Party, 1 8598589030, [email protected]
SOURCE Jessamine County Republican Party
Share this article