Thursday, May 07, 2009
Franklin Co. lawyer seeks state GOP post
Bill Stanley, who backed the ousted chairman, hopes to lure grass-roots activists to his campaign.
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From The Roanoke Times
RICHMOND -- Franklin County lawyer Bill Stanley tried to defend Jeff Frederick against efforts to oust him as chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia.
Now, a month after Frederick was dumped from his leadership post, Stanley has declared his candidacy for the job.
Stanley, who heads the Franklin County GOP committee, said Wednesday that he will run for state Republican chairman at the party's May 30 convention. Stanley will compete with Pat Mullins of Louisa County, who was installed temporarily as chairman by the state party's governing body on Saturday. Convention delegates will decide who completes the remainder of a four-year term that Frederick started last year.
"The position of Chairman must be elected, not anointed," Stanley said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.
"The task ahead will not be easy," Stanley said. "It will require a Chairman with a fresh perspective, one untainted by past battles, biases or affiliations."
The state party's central committee removed Frederick as chairman April 4 after a stormy, 10-month tenure. Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, the state's GOP congressional delegation and other prominent elected officials called for new leadership before Frederick's removal. Frederick cast his removal as an effort by party insiders to thwart the will of the grass-roots activists who elected him at last year's convention.
Stanley was one of two lawyers who represented Frederick at the central committee meeting last month. In announcing his own bid for the chairman's post Wednesday, Stanley said the party "must be driven and guided from the grassroots up and not the top down."
"While we must give all those who work on our party's behalf their due, the Republican party must not permit the judgment of the few to instruct or override the will of the many," Stanley said.
