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GOP Chairman Accused Of Manipulating Vote

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By RONNIE BLAIR

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 16, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Two members of the Pasco County Republican Executive Committee say the party chairman is trying to manipulate an upcoming intraparty election to make sure he stays in power.

County Chairman Bill Bunting, though, says he's just following the state party rules.

At issue is who will serve as Pasco's local and state committeemen and committeewomen in the Republican Party.

"We shouldn't be divided," said Judy Kennedy, who is on the ballot for both precinct committeewoman and state committeewoman.

"We shouldn't be told we can't help, especially this election year when we are trying to get John McCain elected."

Kennedy and her husband, John, are among 27 candidates running for seats on the executive committee who Bunting says aren't eligible to serve. Bunting wrote a letter last month to Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley in an unsuccessful effort to remove the 27 names from the Aug. 26 ballot.

The list of people Bunting said shouldn't be on the ballot included eight candidates in Precinct 118, where Bunting and his wife, Ann, also are running for positions.

The Kennedys, who are running in Precinct 65, say they think Bunting is trying to control who ends up on the committee so he can retain his position as chairman.

"It's not the right way to do business," John Kennedy said.

Bunting, though, said Tuesday that whether anyone is considered eligible to hold the office isn't up to him and he referred questions to the state party office in Tallahassee.

"All I do is follow party rules," he said.

A state Republican Party spokeswoman said that's true. Bunting was acting on behalf of the state party when he gave the supervisor of elections office the list of committee candidates who aren't eligible, she said.

"It's not in any way malicious," said Katie Gordon, press secretary for the state party.

Gordon said the party controls its membership and sets the rules for governing who serves as committeemen and committeewomen. In this case, at issue are two loyalty oaths that candidates for those positions must sign.

One loyalty oath is required by the secretary of state and had to be submitted to the supervisor of elections by June 20. The other is required by the state Republican Party and had to be submitted to the county party chairman by the same date.

State party officials checked the loyalty oaths they received against the list of people on county ballots. Gordon said state party chairman James Greer then wanted the supervisor of elections offices to be aware that some candidates wouldn't be able to serve, even if they received the most votes, because of their failure to meet eligibility.

The idea was the supervisors might want to remove those names from the ballots.

"The state party wanted to streamline the process," Gordon said.

The Kennedys, though, said they submitted both loyalty oaths, and said other candidates Bunting tried to knock off the ballot did as well. When the time came to turn in the signed oaths, the Kennedys said they were told Bunting was refusing to accept them, so vice chairman Steve Graves took the oaths instead and faxed them to Tallahassee.

"We're getting vibes he Bunting may try to use this approach to deny people entry into the Republican Executive Committee after this election," John Kennedy said.

Gordon said she couldn't speak to that particular claim

"Chairman Bunting is chairman of that county," she said. "I would assume he is abiding by the rules."

Bunting said he is.

"When we follow party rules we take all the materials and send them to the state party, and that's been done," he said.

Meanwhile, the 27 names will remain on the ballot, but whether those candidates will ever get to serve on the committee is another question.

Corley said his office received the loyalty oaths it needed and the candidates are qualified to appear on the ballot. That's his only concern. How the Republican Party decides to deal with the results of the election is an internal party issue that's outside his jurisdiction, he said.

"I have no dog in that fight," Corley said.

The Kennedys say it was Bunting who recruited them to the committee about five years ago.

In recent months, though, they and Bunting had a falling out, and eventually the Kennedys filed a grievance against Bunting with the Republican Party of Florida saying he falsely accused them of disrupting the executive committee's Nov. 15 meeting.

The Kennedys said at that meeting they raised questions about expenditures and how much the chairman is authorized to spend without committee approval.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

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