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The major initiative undertaken by former West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Rob Capehart during his term in office was to convince the state executive committee to change the way in which state Republicans choose delegates to the Republican National Convention.Until now, delegates have all been elected in the Primary election, except for the state chairman and the national committee man and woman, who hold automatic slots. But now, only district delegates will be selected at the ballot, while the majority of delegates -- the at-large group -- will be selected at a State Presidential Convention to be held Tuesday, February 5, 2008.The new method of selecting at-large delegates will require action on the party of all 55 county GOP committees. Under the new plan, at-large and "bonus" delegates will be elected by balloting at the county level, to be conducted anytime between Jan. 1-14, 2008. The balloting can be conducted online via the Internet, or at a county convention to be held within that window.The number of delegates to be elected in each county is determined by a formula based on several factors. Delegates to the state convention will include:* All voting members of the state executive committee.* Twelve members of each of the county executive committees elected or appointed in a manner determined by each county.* One delegate for each 1,000 registered Republicans in each of the 55 counties as of July 1, 2007.* One additional -- or "bonus" delegate -- for every four delegates in each county that cast a majority of its votes for President Bush in 2004.* All Republican members of the State Legislature and the Board of Public Works.Now here's where the fun begins. Under the new rules, any presidential candidate must choose a list of West Virginia Republicans as their nominees for delegates and alternate delegates to the state convention, and pay a filing fee of $2,000 to the state party.Then, at the state convention, at-large delegates will be elected by roll call vote of the counties, with each delegate elected on behalf of the presidential candidate he or she is representing. Roll call votes will be taken until a presidential candidate has 50 percent of his or her delegates elected, and those delegates will go to the national convention, representing that presidential contender.Later, during the May Primary, the district delegates will be selected by Republican voters, with candidates listed with their three chosen delegates on the ballot in each congressional district. The winning candidate in each district will be entitled to the district delegates.A tentative list of the distribution of delegates by county shows that Kanawha County would lead the pack with 84 delegates to the state convention. Wood County is next with 53, followed by Berkeley with 50. The bottom three counties with the fewest delegates are Pocahontas, 16, Summers, 15, and Webster, 14. Total county delegates to the state convention would be 1,407.One of the main benefits of this system is the fundraising angle. Between lobbying by presidential candidates, and various fees in regard to the state convention, the state and county parties stand to reap a windfall. Plus, the state's new early selection of delegates will undoubtedly draw national attention by the media and the presidential campaigns.The worry, of course, is whether county parties can pull off the initial elections at the county level. While some county parties are strong and active, a few are nearly dormant, and it may be challenging for them to conduct online balloting, or to hold a county convention.The Republican Gazette welcomes Emails to the Editor and press releases. All submitted items must include the name and contact information for the author of the article, and all articles will only be published with the author's name included.Thank you for reading and participating in The Republican Gazette, another of West Virginia's most biased publications.
GOP State Sen. Clark Barnes is one of the Legislature's boldest members, and his proposed legislation to prevent incumbent candidates from personally handing out pork within 90 days of an election is a wise way to prevent the "back loading" most incumbents do in regard to distributing money to their districts. That fact, of course, will guarantee the defeat of Sen. Barnes' proposal, but it's still an attention-getting idea......Delegate Ron Thompson failed to show up by his own Monday deadline, so now Speaker Rick Thompson must decide whether to follow through on threats to toss Ron Thompson out of the Legislature, clearing the way for Gov. Joe Manchin to name a replacement......Had a great visit recently in Beckley with former State Sen. Russ Weeks and his wife Helen. By the way, we've not heard the last from Russ... but that's all I can say for now.