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The state Republican Party has told Lynchburg Republicans they can’t do what some of them want to do: censure the city’s Republican mayor and vice mayor and expel them from the local Republican committee.
Late Sunday night, the Lynchburg Republican City Committee posted on Facebook (and then circulated via an email on Monday) that it had called a special meeting for Oct. 15 “for the removal of Stephanie Reed and Chris Faraldi from the Republican Party.” A petition calling for their censure and removal was signed by 30 of the committee’s 90 members, although the names were redacted.
The dispute stems from a long-running conflict between four of the five Republican members of Lynchburg City Council — Reed and Faraldi on one side, Marty Misjuns and Jeff Helgeson on the other. At one point Helgeson called Reed “the stupidest person on earth;” she’s accused him and Misjuns of “terrorizing” her.
This battle has played out both on the council and within the party. Last year the council voted 5-2 (with three Republicans in the majority) to censure Misjuns over his behavior. This summer, the council voted 4-3 (with Reed and Faraldi part of the majority) to censure Misjuns and Helgeson for violating attorney-client privilege by releasing an email from the city attorney without majority approval.
Outside of the council, Lynchburg Republicans’ executive committee voted last year to censure Faraldi for not voting the way the committee felt he should have. That action was later overturned by a larger body of Republicans (although some insist that meeting was invalid). Misjuns and Helgeson later recruited a primary challenger to oppose Faraldi in the June primary. When Faraldi won, that challenger filed a lawsuit to try to void the election. That lawsuit was later withdrawn, but the question of what role the city should play in the suit is what prompted the email that Misjuns and Helgeson released. The political turmoil from that is part of what led to this latest censure attempt.
On Tuesday, the Republican Party of Virginia released a statement saying it “feels compelled to make clear the state party’s position on such matters.” It said the party’s lawyer had concluded that the Lynchburg Republican City Committee can’t expel Faraldi and Reed because the bylaws say that “Lynchburg City Council members who were elected as Republicans remain as ex officio members of the committee for the entire term to which they were elected. They are therefore not subject to removal as long as they hold office.”
The statement also said that “the Republican Party of Virginia does not recognize censure actions by our subordinate member committees and therefore deems such actions to be null, void, and without effect.”
The statement urged Lynchburg Republicans to focus on the upcoming election and not factional in-fighting: “The Republican Party of Virginia reminds all affiliated GOP committees that Republicans must avoid any distraction from the crucial mission that all Lynchburg and Virginia Republicans are united behind: Electing Donald J. Trump, Hung Cao, John McGuire, and all nominated local candidates on November 5th. “
Lynchburg Republican chair Veronica Bratton sad she was seeking counsel. “The issue is the RPV State Party Plan gives the members a route to be heard,” she said. “They collect 1/3 of the signatures to require me to call a meeting for their purposes. I believe the article is listed on the petition. I as Chair am required to honor the request. They have an agenda the RPV disagrees with. As the Chair, I am in the middle and trying to work with my Executive committee and counsel to determine how to navigate the situation.”
For more background on the situation, see my Tuesday column.
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