Top GOP state leader resigns post
A member of the Tennessee Republican State Executive Committee says he’s resigning his position, blasting state party leaders and questioning the direction of the Tennessee Republican Party on his way out.
In his resignation letter, Mark Winslow said the party’s “soul rotted away some time ago.”
“As it’s currently constituted, the TNGOP is really nothing more than a small corrupt core group who view our party as their private club and personal piggy bank. Money is passed around, doled out to friends, handed to favored consultants and staffers who ignore bylaws or common
sense,” Winslow wrote in his announcement, posted to Twitter.
“Rules are arrogantly and routinely broken by officers and staff with no consequences or accountability.”
The practical implications of Winslow leaving the 66-member SEC are relatively small.
In a statement sent to the SEC Friday, Chairman Ryan Haynes said he has accepted Winslow’s resignation and will start the process of finding a replacement.
This is the latest scrap between Winslow and party leadership. Winslow, who previously served as Tennessee Republican Party executive director, has butted heads with party officials for years. He’s also recently been among some SEC members — and some GOP lawmakers — who’ve been angry at party actions related to the upcoming primary election and the Republican National Convention.
There were allegations the party chose people to serve as delegates or alternate delegates for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump who didn’t actually support the candidate. At the time, there was still talk of delegates changing their votes at the convention after several rounds of voting; Haynes said at the time the party agreed with the Trump campaign on the delegate slate.
Haynes and current Tennessee GOP Executive Director Brent Leatherwood also recently faced some pressure from a faction in the party over work done by the wife of a party official. Taylor Ferrell, married to GOP party political director Walker Ferrell, had some contracts with GOP candidates challenging party incumbents.
Winslow told the Nashville Post his decision wasn’t about the delegate debate or changes to party rules. In his letter, he said he’s been looking for the right time to leave for some time.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish!” SEC secretary Christi Cross told the Post. “My hope is that a bona fide Republican, with a commitment to the party and its platform, will be appointed to fill his term.”
Winslow is best known in Chattanooga for suing U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and his 2010 campaign manager, Chip Saltsman, for defamation in 2011, a lawsuit that was ultimately thrown out of court.
Winslow was managing former Tennessee Republican Party Chairwoman Robin Smith’s 2010 congressional primary bid. After she lost to Fleischmann, Winslow sued Saltsman and the state Republican Party. He charged he had been defamed in Fleischmann campaign ads and by Saltsman’s public comments.
Winslow also charged the state Republican Party violated confidential agreements on a buyout. Fleischmann was added later to the lawsuit. The state GOP settled out of court in 2013, and the case against Fleischmann and Saltsman was dismissed.
The Republican National Convention starts July 17. The primary election is Aug. 4.
Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.