The call from the sidelines
FAIRFIELD COUNTY GOP CHOOSES NEW CHAIRMAN
Members hope shift in leadership will end divisiveness, bring party peace
Published: Wednesday, March 31, 2004
NEWS 03D
By Mary Beth Lane
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
LANCASTER, Ohio -- To a standing ovation, the Fairfield County Republican Party reorganized itself last night, electing Steve Davis chairman and ousting Brian Fox.
Party members hope increased harmony will follow the election of Davis, president of the Lancaster City Council, to replace Fox, a former Pickerington city councilman.
The leadership change began with the March 2 election, when an insurgent faction opposed to Fox won enough seats on the 117-seat central committee to retake the party.
The newly seated central committee last night elected a new 35-member executive committee which, in turn, elected Davis as chairman.
Fox was chairman for two years, succeeding state Rep. Tim Schaffer of Lancaster. Some perceived the party rift as Lancaster versus Pickerington, or conservatives versus moderates.
That will end, Davis said.
''We should be proud that those two historical gulfs, used by some to divide us, have been bridged successfully by the election of this executive committee,'' he said. ''Our leadership team is extremely diversified.''
Not only active party members should care who leads the Republicans in the growing county, said Lancaster lawyer Gerald Stebelton.
''This is politics at its base, grass-roots level,'' he said. ''If you're going to have good government, this is where it starts.''
Fox, who was criticized by opponents as divisive, wasn't on hand. His allies who were present remained silent. The shift in party leadership was already clear before the meeting began.
An anti-Fox group of elected officials and other prominent GOP voices called Citizens United for Republican Ethics had campaigned vigorously to oust Fox and his allies.
The group blamed Fox for a number of clumsy moves. Among them: his push to endorse Don S. McAuliffe for re-election as a judge last year despite widely circulated rumors that he was under federal investigation. McAuliffe was indicted the month after the endorsement.
Last month, a federal jury convicted McAuliffe of crimes related to burning down his house along Buckeye Lake and fraudulently collecting an insurance payout. He awaits sentencing.
The anti-Fox group also blamed him for pushing the appointment of Lancaster City Council member Steve Jackson to a Municipal Court judgeship over the objections of other prominent Republicans and the county bar association, which argued he was not the best-qualified. Jackson lost the November election.
Monica Evans, a central committee member from Liberty Township, left last night's meeting saying she looks forward to ending the intraparty rift and working together on Republican priorities.
''Hopefully, we can put all this behind us,'' she said. ''We have a president to elect.''
mlane@dispatch.com
FAIRFIELD COUNTY GOP CHOOSES NEW CHAIRMAN
Members hope shift in leadership will end divisiveness, bring party peace
Published: Wednesday, March 31, 2004
NEWS 03D
By Mary Beth Lane
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
LANCASTER, Ohio -- To a standing ovation, the Fairfield County Republican Party reorganized itself last night, electing Steve Davis chairman and ousting Brian Fox.
Party members hope increased harmony will follow the election of Davis, president of the Lancaster City Council, to replace Fox, a former Pickerington city councilman.
The leadership change began with the March 2 election, when an insurgent faction opposed to Fox won enough seats on the 117-seat central committee to retake the party.
The newly seated central committee last night elected a new 35-member executive committee which, in turn, elected Davis as chairman.
Fox was chairman for two years, succeeding state Rep. Tim Schaffer of Lancaster. Some perceived the party rift as Lancaster versus Pickerington, or conservatives versus moderates.
That will end, Davis said.
''We should be proud that those two historical gulfs, used by some to divide us, have been bridged successfully by the election of this executive committee,'' he said. ''Our leadership team is extremely diversified.''
Not only active party members should care who leads the Republicans in the growing county, said Lancaster lawyer Gerald Stebelton.
''This is politics at its base, grass-roots level,'' he said. ''If you're going to have good government, this is where it starts.''
Fox, who was criticized by opponents as divisive, wasn't on hand. His allies who were present remained silent. The shift in party leadership was already clear before the meeting began.
An anti-Fox group of elected officials and other prominent GOP voices called Citizens United for Republican Ethics had campaigned vigorously to oust Fox and his allies.
The group blamed Fox for a number of clumsy moves. Among them: his push to endorse Don S. McAuliffe for re-election as a judge last year despite widely circulated rumors that he was under federal investigation. McAuliffe was indicted the month after the endorsement.
Last month, a federal jury convicted McAuliffe of crimes related to burning down his house along Buckeye Lake and fraudulently collecting an insurance payout. He awaits sentencing.
The anti-Fox group also blamed him for pushing the appointment of Lancaster City Council member Steve Jackson to a Municipal Court judgeship over the objections of other prominent Republicans and the county bar association, which argued he was not the best-qualified. Jackson lost the November election.
Monica Evans, a central committee member from Liberty Township, left last night's meeting saying she looks forward to ending the intraparty rift and working together on Republican priorities.
''Hopefully, we can put all this behind us,'' she said. ''We have a president to elect.''
mlane@dispatch.com
