(CNN) – The Ron Paul 2012 campaign is preparing to challenge the entire slate of Louisiana’s 46 delegates selected to attend the Republican National Convention next month in Tampa, Florida.
Paul’s campaign asserts the final list of delegates released Friday that were selected during the state party’s convention last month were chosen against the rules. At the time, Paul supporters held their own rump convention, or protest vote, in the same room, which composed a majority of those attending.
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“We believe that they grossly and blatantly and repeatedly violated their party rules and elected a delegation that was improper,” said Paul’s campaign chairman Jesse Benton. “We believe that our rump convention is the legitimate delegation and they have a right to be seated at the Republican National Convention.”
Aware of the discontent from the Paul campaign, the state party says they contacted the campaign after the convention to settle their differences ahead of the final release. The party says they followed their rules, but the campaign demanded a majority of the delegates allotted to the state, even though their people were not selected for those spots during the convention.
“Unless we gave them a majority, they were going to challenge our whole convention regardless,” said Jason Doré, executive director of the Republican Party of Louisiana. “The whole thing is kind of bizarre.”
Paul’s campaign says they were hardly contacted.
“They’ve been extremely non-communicative,” said Benton. “They gave us a cold shoulder.”
During the March 24 primary, Paul received only 6% of the state vote, while Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney received 49% and 27%, respectively. While Paul didn’t receive a great turnout then, his supporters organized to win delegates during selection votes in each district and the state convention.
Out of the 30 delegate slots selected at the state convention last month, about half were left open to be filled by the state executive committee at a later date, leaving open the possibility of more Paul delegates to be selected.
Under state party rules passed in May of last year, the executive committee can provide supplemental rules to the original ones adopted, as long as they aren’t inconsistent with the original ones adopted. The rules leave the State Central Committee to elect many of the delegates, who must also sign an affidavit prepared by the state party. The affidavit essentially binds them to certain candidates, minimizing the opportunity for the campaign to convince other delegates to switch their vote.
The party was prepared to award Paul 17 of the delegates chosen at the state convention, but his supporters refused to participate in the selection process, instead holding their own separate vote. Benton says some of the Texas congressman’s supporters were kept from voting during the selection process.
“The Louisiana GOP insiders, realizing they were in the minority, grossly and repeatedly violated their own party rules to try to railroad through their preferred delegation,” he said.
With the final list of delegates released, the campaign can officially file a challenge with the RNC’s Credentials Committee. The committee will hear the challenge a week before the convention next month.
Paul’s campaign is also making challenges to delegates in Massachusetts and Oregon, though not their entire slates. Currently, he holds the majority of delegations in Iowa, Minnesota, and Maine. Under RNC rules, a candidate needs the majority of delegates in five states to enter their name into nomination.
“It seems they are all caught up in these personal motives, and not focusing on the picture. And the big picture is electing Mitt Romney in the fall and defeating President Obama,” Doré said.
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- Ron Paul going to Tampa!! (investmentwatchblog.com)
- Ron Paul Campaign has $3.3 million on hand: Whats in store for the convention (jeenyuscorner.com)
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lol. I am actually. I’ve written numerous times to a number of legislators but to no avail. I’m working with a number of NGO’s that support my beliefs and agenda although I’m just in the planning stages. I’m a former state worker and I’ve given up on trying to work within the system. More than a third of our state’s poistions (around 30,000) now are appointed by the governor and his staff at whatever salary he chooses and without meeting any qualifications other than knowing someone and the system is filled with corruption and cronyism. I had to leave state service to even be able to speak up. Louisiana state workers do not have protected free speech, they can be terminated for saying anything of a political nature, even if called to testify under oath. This has happened numerous times recently so workers have stopped agreeing to show up for hearings and legislators have stopped calling them. They know Jindal holds the power of a third world dictator and the pettiness of a spoiled teenage girl. Even so I have to be annonymous or face repurcussions. It’s one thing to say you have free speech, it’s quite another to exercise it and have all the power of the government and a politician’s non governmental allies brought down upon you. Try proving that has happned with limited resources; especially when the judges largely vote not based on law but party affiliation and the governor and anyone he favors is immune to open records laws and can claim executive privledge. I hope Jindal gets the VP nod. Maybe then he can share the curse of his existence and twisted politics with the rest of the country instead of just Louisina.
Our judges our mostly republican agents and don’t respect our own constitution and Jindal is holding the strings to keep his VP chances alive. Do you really think he’d allow Paul to have more delegates from Louisiana than Romney? This is a rigged two party system and Paul is not the chosen one.
Instead of being negative and giving up, get off you rear and DO SOMETHING!
The Republicans in Louisiana don’t respect rules, laws, fairness or decency. They are about as corrupt as they come and are not afraid to eat their own young in their pursuit of power.
But with the video evidence, testimony, and other documents as evidence, a federal judge would almost have NO CHOICE but to rule in the plaintiff’s favor.