Schifanelli Unity State Still Trying to Claw Its Way Back into MDGOP Leadership Races

MD GOP Unity Team still spinning a conspiracy to cover up their own inadequacies.

The Duckpin has learned that the Gordana Schifanelli-led “GOP Unity Team” is still trying to get its way back onto the ballot.

The Schifanelli slate was disqualified from the race due to their own incompetence.

In an email sent on Monday to State Central Committee members, the slate accuses Republican Party Chairman Dirk Haire of having “unchecked authority” and states that the slate was "never notified of the existence of these arbitrary “rules” that govern the process despite the fact that they were notified multiple times. The message goes on to suggest that the other candidates for party office should demand that the Unity Slate be allowed to participate, and urges supporters to contact the Nominations Committee to force them to reverse their decision.

This contradicts Schifanelli’s previously stated position that she “ cannot help people who don’t want to help themselves” and was no longer seeking to overturn the decision of the Nominating Committee.

The letter is posted in its entirety below. But after a review of the letter it clear that whoever wrote it has no history of involvement in Maryland Republican Party politics, attending State Party conventions, or being in any way involved in their Central Committee or else they would have known the answers to a lot of these questions already or, at minimum, who to ask for clarification.

Additionally, the entire thing seeks to create a grandiose conspiracy where one does not exist in an effort to gloss over the Slate’s own incompetence and stupidity.

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Dear Maryland Central Committee Members,

As you are probably aware, Gordana Schifanelli is running for State Party Chair. Last week, Dirk Haire and his staff acted without Constitutional authority to block Gordana and her entire Unity Team from being placed on the ballot. In a letter to the Central Committee members, he cited as justification for his actions arbitrary deadlines found nowhere in the State Party Bylaws.  He made no reference to Bylaws or any official organizational document but instead cited an email that was sent only to current and incoming Central Committee members, even though the Bylaws state that any registered Republican is eligible to seek the chairmanship and other officer positions. 

Stunningly, the MDGOP Bylaws have no clearly defined Nominating process. This alone should greatly concern all committee members because the process of nominating our leaders is among our most significant responsibilities. Constitutions, Bylaws, and Operating Procedures exist to offer dispassionate accountability to protect membership from those acting on personal whim. While members may have been made aware of arbitrary deadlines, the bylaws are silent on this point and such deadlines are unenforceable.  The Bylaws are not so vague.  Elsewhere, they are quite specific, citing “30 days” as relevant in matters related to the minimum period between the General Election and the MDGOP convention, the filing of legislative vacancies, the time within which a removed committee member may file an appeal and the Bylaws Committee to act on such an appeal.   

As inconvenient as facts are to Chairman Haire, this is the reality.   The state central committee membership is now experiencing the natural consequence of unchecked authority.  Please, check the bylaws for yourself.  There is no 30-day requirement for submitting nominating forms.  There is no 5 pm deadline.  The Committee that was supposed to review nominating forms wasn't even created until 11 days after the forms were turned in.  Moreover, many of the candidates are non-committee members.  They were never notified of the existence of these arbitrary “rules.”  To require them to abide by conditions they were never made aware of and which are not even listed in our Bylaws is an unreasonable and destructive overreach on the part of Chairman Haire and his staff.  This is not how Republicans should behave toward one another and especially toward those acting in a good faith effort to improve the transparency and efficiency of the MDGOP.  If these abuses go unanswered by rank and file committee members, the corrosive effect of these actions will continue to erode confidence in the judgment and integrity of Republican state leadership.

Without specific bylaws and transparent rules, no organization can function properly.  We will continue to be at the mercy of “leaders” acting on their personal authority.  We hope you will join us in demanding higher standards for our Party and apply pressure to achieve the following results:

 Let’s Fix the Problem:  Reverse the Decision and Allow Unity Team Candidates on the Ballot!

1.       Contact the other candidates! Implore them to do the right thing and stand up for Democratic over Authoritarian rule.  Ask them to urge Chairman Haire to include the Unity Team on the ballot.  Their request will hold a lot of weight.

2.       Contact your Central Committee Chairman! The decision to exclude Unity Team candidates from the ballot has no legal basis and no justification under the Bylaws of the Maryland Republican Party. Urge your Committee Chairman to contact Chairman Haire and add the Unity Team candidates to the ballot, so that the state central committee membership may decide for itself who its leaders will be.

3.       Contact the seven members of the Nominations Committee (member list with contact information at the end of this email)! The purpose of the questions below is simply to point out the arbitrary nature of the current Nominations process and to ask the Nominating Committee members to act reasonably, reverse their decision, and hold that the forms submitted by the Unity Team candidates were timely submitted in accordance with the MDGOP Bylaws.  Ask the Nominating Committee the following questions:  

·         Are you aware that any registered Maryland Republican can serve as MDGOP chairman and other officer positions?

·         Are you aware that the only notice related to nominating MDGOP officer candidates was printed in the state convention program booklet and in internal emails, both of which were intended only for central committee members, and not for rank and file Maryland Republicans who were never given direct access to any of this information?

·         Are Nominations Committee members aware of Bylaws Article IX, Section g?

·         Were nominating forms submitted by candidates directly to your committee, as required by section g?  

·         The Unity Team candidates submitted their forms directly to the Nominating Committee as required by the Bylaws.  Which other candidates submitted their forms directly to the Committee as required?

·         Did you verify the willingness and availability of each candidate to serve under IXg(1)(a)?  Explain how.

·         Apart from talking to Corine Frank, what steps did the Nominations Committee take independently to certify the eligibility of nominees under IXg(1)(b)?

·         Apart from being told by Corine Frank that the Unity Team’s forms were ‘late’ by two hours, on what basis did you decide these nominating forms were not timely filed or presented?  

·         Are any of your reasons for disqualifying Unity Team candidates based on the state Bylaws, or were you acting simply as a rubber stamp for Chairman Haire?

·         Was it necessary to close the process for nominating officers eleven (11) days before the Nominating Committee was even formed and actual committee work began?

·         If so, please explain why the nominations process needed to end nearly two weeks before your committee was formed. 

·          In his letter to committee members, Chairman Haire indicates the Nominating Committee met on November 20, 2022 and decided whether late-filing candidates provided "a good reason."  
     -- Was the Nominating Committee provided copies of the Unity Team's nominating forms by Corine Frank, or were you only given the forms Corine Frank declared to be "timely filed"?
     -- Did the Nominating Committee contact any of the disqualified candidates to ask them why their forms were "late"?
     -- Did Corine Frank, who had held the Unity Team forms for 11 days, indicate whether she had determined why the forms were "late"?
     -- If you failed to determine whether good cause existed for a late-filed nomination, why did you disqualify the candidates?  
     -- Did the Nominating committee perform its responsibilities as required by the Bylaws and as described in Chairman Haire's letter to committee members?  

Do the Right Thing: If Leadership Refuses to do the right thing and add the Unity Team to the ballot, then we have to register our disapproval in a substantive way or this overreach of authority will continue. 

Vote for transformative change:

1. In every vote for an Officer candidate, either REFUSE to vote or cast a vote for ABSTENTION.  

·         Candidates who sat by indifferently while our rights were restricted should not be given the honor of a mandate to lead the party.

·         The new officers, whoever they are, must understand that we are not cattle and will not do as told by our masters in Annapolis. After all, we are not the Left.   

·         We’ll exercise our right to vote for candidates of our choice, and we will give the benefit of the doubt to those who follow the Bylaws, play by the rules, and do so transparently.

2. If given the opportunity to cast a vote of NO CONFIDENCE, do so!  

·         Business as usual has got to end.  

·         Let there be no mistake that we expect more of MDGOP leadership in a post-Dirk Haire administration.

3. If you see your fellow central committee members walking out of the convention hall in protest, join them!

 
The only solution going forward is for State Leadership to demand accountability and adherence to standards guided by integrity and law NOW.
 
We must clean up our own house before we can reasonably assume we are the qualified organization to clean up our State's House.
 
 
Respectfully,
The Unity Team