The Purges Will Continue Until the Membership Grows
FrumForum has learned that despite losing the sponsorship of a National Committeewoman from Illinois, the GOP purity test resolution has obtained the necessary co-sponsors to bypass the RNC’s resolutions committee and bring the proposal forward for an eventual vote.
James Bopp Jr., the Indiana National Committeeman who proposed the resolution, told FrumForum in an interview that the newest version of the resolution now has sponsors from ten states – the minimum necessary to bypass the resolution committee and bring it directly to the floor for a vote before the RNC’s 168 members at their annual gathering in January.
The initially leaked version of the resolution had ten sponsors from nine states, which would have meant that the resolution would first have had to go to the resolution committee – a committee which, given the Republican establishment’s opposition to the resolution, looked likely to either amend the purity test beyond recognition or recommend it be scrapped.
Bopp managed to bring the resolution to the floor for an eventual vote despite what appears to be a change of heart by Illinois National Committeewoman Demetra Demonte.
In an earlier version of the resolution, Demonte is listed as one of the sponsors. However, a more recent list obtained by FrumForum indicates that she is no longer a sponsor (see below for an updated list of sponsors).
When reached for comment by FrumForum, Demonte said that the resolution “was still in the process of being completed [when it was] leaked in its draft form.”
After being pressed as to whether she still supported the resolution, she declined to comment, saying only: “I’m a member of the Committee... that’s really all I want to say.”
FrumForum contacted James Bopp Jr., the chief sponsor and driving force behind the resolution, to see whether Demonte had asked to be removed from the list of sponsors. Bopp was similarly unwilling to comment on the matter, responding: “I’m not going to speak for her.”
While the most recent version of the resolution doesn't include Demonte, Bopp appears to have made up for the loss of her sponsorship by convincing two other RNC members to back the resolution: Avie Axdahl of Minnesota and Debbie Joslin of Alaska.
At this point, if those opposed to the resolution want to prevent it from being brought to the floor, they will have to convince at least two of the eleven sponsors to drop their support for the resolution.
Here is the most recent list of sponsors:
Chief Sponsor:
James Bopp Jr., Indiana
Sponsors:
Avie Axdahl, Minnesota; Donna Cain, Oregon; Cindy Costa, South Carolina; Debbie Joslin, Alaska; Peggy Lambert, Tennessee; Carolyn McLarty, Oklahoma; Pete Rickets, Nebraska; Steve Scheffler, Iowa; Helen Van Etten, Kansas; Solomon Yue, Oregon