Resignation Statements from members of the Stone County Republican Committee
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At our Republican Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 17, the Committee Chair, Bill Smith read an email to everyone that he had received from Benny Speaks. In essence, it stated that any Republican who signed any petition for an Independent candidate could be removed from the Republican Committee.
Later in the week Bill and his wife visited me at my home and showed me some rules that evidently were in the Republican rule book. It stated that anyone who did not back the Republican nominee that had been chosen by the Republican Party would have their names removed from the membership lists. It upset me to think that I was being forced to vote as the Republican Party dictated and was not able to vote my conscience or have my constitutional rights limited.
I didn’t know that the Republican Party had the right to tell me that I couldn’t vote for who I wanted. I stated my opinion to Bill at that time and told him that I could no longer be a part of any organization that forced its members to act against their consciences. I resigned from the Stone County Republican Committee.
Donna Lancaster
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Phyllis and I feel it is time to resign from the Stone County Republican Committee. We do not like being told how to vote and told that we cannot vote for an Independent candidate running in Arkansas.
The Republican Party is becoming pickier than hell with all their rules they seem to come up with all the time.
Another reason is that they are more than greedy with their filing fees for different offices – i.e., just a few years ago, the fee for State Senator was $2500, then it was raised to $4,000 and for 2012, it was raised to $7,500. It is not like most candidates are made of money, but then I guess you have to have high fees when the State Chairman, Doyle Webb has to be paid $90,000 a year, plus expenses.
Another reason that has bothered us for a long time is that when Paul White decided to run for State Senate in 2010 as a Republican Candidate, after the “high-command” of the party found out about him running on State’s Sovereignty, they put up Missy Irvin to run against him and did all they could to support her. They would not support any candidate that was a Tea Party candidate.
From coast to coast, the Republican Party detests what the Tea Party has accomplished across America. They are getting rid of long-term Republican RINOS that aren’t really conservatives. There are plenty more that need to fall by the wayside come November 2012. There are just too many that spit on the Constitution and just do what is right for the Party.
Ken & Phyllis Borgenheimer (Ken is a past Stone County Republican Committee Treasurer)
I have resigned as the Stone County Republican Committee Executive Board as Second Vice President, & from the Committee itself. I still believe in the platform of the Republican Party but can no longer remain with an organization that shows by actions that the principles of our forefathers and the nation they forged for us mean little or nothing at all.
I have been very concerned over the actions of our current Senator, and have expressed those concerns at Stone County RC executive board meetings. State Sovereignty issues, voting to have fluoride added to water systems across the state, proudly stating that ALEC is a good organization are a few issues of great concern. ALEC is the same organization that tried to get Arkansas legislators to call for a dreaded Constitutional Convention.
After the email from Benny Speaks was read by Chair Bill Smith at the April 17 meeting, I made the decision to resign. For me, I am choosing to adhere to a set of principles I had expected to see in elected officials. As I stated in my resignation email to Bill Smith, “there is no compromise with integrity or the USA Constitution”. Bill knows the compromises to which I refer. I feel as a result of the recent maneuverings by our “conservative” county election commissioner and our SCRC chair, that the Republican Committee is no longer in step with the principles that drew me to it years ago.
Donna Deppe (resigned Stone County Republican Committee Second Vice Chair)
The reason I resigned from the Republican Committee of Stone County was because I signed a petition for Paul White as an Independent candidate for Arkansas State Senator District 18. I personally felt his positions as a candidate were more constitutionally conservative than the Republican Candidate, Missy Irvin, who is the incumbent.
When we filed this year as Republican Committee Members we had signed a pledge to support the Republican Party. Those of us who had signed the petition were asked to sign a form to rescind our signature from the Independent candidate’s petition. I decided that I did not want to rescind my name so the only alternative I had was to resign from the Stone County Republican Committee.
Lorraine Christen (resigned Stone County Republican Committee Secretary)
There are several reasons that we are leaving the Republican Party.
We are resigning because there is too much control within the Republican Party. When you are a member of the Republican Committee, you are forced to support only Republican candidates whether we agree with them or not. We want to be free to support the candidates of our choice.
Another reason we are leaving is the Republican Party’s support of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) which is connected to the Democratic Party and the United Nations.
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