A lawsuit has been filed over the Arkansas Republican Party’s decision not to hold public primaries.
At a biennial convention in June, the party voted to close its primaries. This would mean that only registered Republicans would be able to participate in the primary. In theory, closed primaries could make the winning candidates more conservative, as they would be elected by a pool of voters only within their own party.
The lawsuit was filed by the chairwoman of the state Republican National Convention, Jennifer Lancaster. The lawsuit states that the Arkansas GOP’s internal rules give them the authority to make this change. Weeks after the vote, party chairman Joseph Wood overturned the decision, saying the party had violated its own rules in making the decision. The disagreement reflects a current disagreement within the party over ideology and rule implementation.
State law appears to allow parties to make primary election decisions. Arkansas Code, Title 7, states regarding elections: “Organized political parties shall: establish the requirements for voting in their primary elections.”
Last year, Republican Senator Kim Hammer wrote a letter to Attorney General Tim Griffin asking him to clarify whether the law requires parties to pass legislation to change their primaries.
“No additional legislation would be necessary since voters can already indicate their party affiliation on the voter registration form,” he said in response.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of State’s office told the Arkansas-Democrat Gazette in June that the change would have to be implemented through state law. The state Board of Elections and Secretary of State John Thurston have left the Republican primary open.
The aim of the lawsuit is to close the primaries again.
Dichotomy in the party
Jenifer Lancaster and Joseph Wood have slightly different visions for the Arkansas Republican Party. Lancaster has called Wood a “Chicago Democrat.”
In interviews, Lancaster often says she wants the Republican Party to take a more “bottom-up approach,” meaning the party governed by itself rather than by the “elites” she currently sees as the driving force behind the party.
Before the convention vote, Lancaster told Conduit News that Republicans as a “body” should be “the highest authority on all party matters.” She also argued that the Republican body should have more power than the party chairman, citing party rules.
Lancaster and her husband Clinton are conservative lawyers in Arkansas who have previously sponsored legislation to regulate libraries and ban the use of voting machines in elections. The couple clashed with Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders last year when she tried to roll back the Freedom of Information Act.
The two visions of the Republican Party came up in a recent debate over the convention venue. The Saline County Republican Committee, led by Jennifer Lancaster, has made some decisions that are controversial within the Republican Party, such as issuing a vote of no confidence in Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill and Senators Tom Cotton and John Boozman after lawmakers voted to send aid to Ukraine.
A separate group called the Saline County Republican Party owned the meetinghouse in Benton where the Saline County Republican Committee met. The Saline County Republican Party is led by former state party chairman Doyle Webb, who disagreed with party decisions, including allegedly failing to pay building insurance and holding closed-door meetings before regular meetings. In July, he ejected them from the meetinghouse.
In a statement, the Saline County Republican Committee called themselves “America First Patriots” and condemned the “institutional neglect of their duly elected members.”
Conclusion of the primaries
The vote to end the primary was held on June 9. The party convention was held in the ballroom of a Rogers hotel until about 10 p.m. The party voted by voice vote, “yes” or “no.” Under Robert’s Rules of Order, voice votes are usually reserved for smaller decisions.
Lancaster is a frequent guest on the morning Dave Elswick Show on radio station 101.1 The Answer.
After the vote, she spoke on the show about why she supports closing the primary. She said that as Americans, Arkansas Republican Party members should have the freedom to “not associate themselves with certain people” and that the Republican Party has been “infiltrated” by Democrats. The open primary system could allow Democrats to vote for more moderate Republicans.
“The people must stand up and take back the authority that is rightfully theirs,” she said.
She was frustrated that U.S. Representative Steve Womack defeated Senator Clint Penzo, whom she sees as more conservative, in a primary.
At the end of June, she held a town hall meeting in Conway to clarify questions that were still outstanding from the party convention. The meeting lasted about two and a half hours. During the meeting, she answered questions about party rules and the future of the party.
On July 25, the Republican Party’s state executive committee voted to reopen the primary election. Joseph Wood attended a closed session that day along with other party officials. According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, more than 60 people attended the session to voice their opposition. Several supporters of closing the primary election were locked out during the session.
In a statement to Little Rock Public Radio, Wood said Lancaster put forward the proposal for a closed primary without prior notice, meaning the vote was supposedly not on the agenda. He accused the convention of violating party rules.
Lancaster told the Gazette that the repeal was a decision designed to “thwart people’s plans”.
In August, she said on the Dave Elswick Show that the party’s grassroots were trying to restore “accountability”.
In the lawsuit, Lancaster claims that the State Executive Committee cannot override rules enacted by the Assembly.
“Under RPA rules,” she said, reiterating a point she often makes, “final decision-making power in all party matters rests with the biennial Republican State Convention… (emphasis added).”
She is asking the court to end the primaries and initiate a jury trial.
Arkansas’ Republican Secretary of State, John Thurston, has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
