The battle for GOP control: Conservative Kelty backers, moderate Republicans at oddsSource: Ft Wayne Journal Gazette 2/24/2008
While the local Republican Party has seen previous battles between its usually successful moderate faction and its right wing, the rancor stemming from last year’s mayoral race is more virulent and seething longer than usual, resulting in a rare fight for control of the party.
The fight has resulted in an unusually high number of candidates for precinct committeemen – and an even more unusual number of contested races – in the May 6 primary. Among other duties, precinct committeemen elect the party’s county chairman, and some of the party’s conservative members want to remove the more moderate county chairman, Steve Shine.
The split is hurting the party’s finances to the point where it may lose its longtime downtown headquarters. Ken Neumeister, a big Republican contributor who broke ranks with Shine over the party’s support of Kelty, owns a one-third share of the headquarters building; contractor and Republican Al McComb owns one-third; and the remaining one-third is owned equally by Shine and his law partner, Tom Hardin.
The group bought the Main Street building in 2005 and borrowed nearly $300,000 to remodel it. But contributions to the party are down – largely because of the split – the party is behind on rent, and the building may be sold or split into units with another tenant.
In the past, Shine said, party members would coalesce and come to the rescue with contributions. But “because of the bitterness, no one wanted to work for the common good,” Shine said.
If we can get more volunteers and more good candidates in the Ft Wayne area it should be interesting.
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