Victory Committee Still Uses Secret Strategy | Eastern NC Now
Smoke and mirrors to deceive voters against conservative candidates.
Victory Committee Still Uses Secret Strategy
BY: HOOD RICHARDSON
The Beaufort County Victory Committee still functions. Their meetings are secret. Their decisions are secret. Their political strategy benefits their RINO (Republican In Name Only) buddies. They spend money raised by the Beaufort County Republican Party mostly from those who are unaware how it is actually used. There is no approval of the Republican Party Executive Committee either before it is spent and not after it is spent. They have used Party money to attack Republicans and actually defeat Republicans running in political races. The Victory Committee was set up by Queen Carolyn Garris.
One of the most offensive uses of Party money was to defeat two Republicans running for Washington City Council which allowed two Democrats to be elected. Queen Carolyn Garris and her minions went to the poles and campaigned against Tex Melton and Sheri Clark. Both Melton and Clark came up short by almost exactly the same amount of votes the two Democrats needed to win. Queen Carolyn Garris and her minions told voters that Melton and Clark were not true Republicans and not to vote for them. This is outrageous party disloyalty.
The members of the Victory Committee named by Queen Carolyn Garris are Keith Kidwell, Greg Dority, Paul Varcoe, Steve Rader, Ashley Woolard and Queen Carolyn Garris. There are a few other as yet unidentified political co-conspirators.
The same disloyal behavior is taking place in the present election. Radio advertisements have been placed supporting candidates favored by the Victory Committee and conveniently not mentioning other candidates. Available funds for use by the Victory Committee as of September were a little more than $10,000 plus whatever they can raise plus, whatever they take in from the October golf tournament.
Radio advertisements are the extent of the political activity known to date. I expect additional money to be spent for other media advertising.
Conservative Republicans should be aware that money given to the Beaufort County Republican Party is used against conservative candidates. It is and has been used to support Fake Frankie Waters and Randy the RINO Walker. Republicans interested in the conservative side of politics should give their money directly to conservative candidates.
There is no reason for the Beaufort County Republican Party to be taking sides in this general election. The primary process has selected all of the Republican candidates. The only contest is within the county commissioner’s race. This is caused by limited voting which means each voter has only one vote. This means you can vote for only one of the three. So far, the behavior of the Victory Committee is to not support the only proven conservative Republican who is running. That is Stan Deatherage. The Victory Committee managed to knock out conservative Republican Travis Martin in the primary elections. He was replaced with a liberal Republican.
The party should be running advertisements to get out the Republican vote. But their advertisement looks like it is naming certain favorite Republican candidates and ignoring the Republican slate. The entire slate is always what is important in the general election. For example, most people are not familiar with the judges. We need to get out the vote for our Republican judges.
This county commissioner race is unique in this election. There are only four candidates to fill three offices. Only one is a Democrat. A race like this can produce some very unexpected results. The party should be supporting our three Republicans. If the Victory Committee does nothing, we could elect all three Republicans. If the Victory Committee gets involved, they will guarantee that Ed Booth gets elected. The “word on the street” is the Victory Committee is going out of its way to support Ashley Woolard. Watch for the Victory Committee to ignore Stan Deatherage. Ashley Woolard is a member of the Victory Committee. They are pushing John Edwards as the number two candidate.
Voters should remember that it is the voting block formed by Fake Frankie Waters and Randy the RINO Walker (both supposed Republicans) with Democrats Jerry Langley and Ed Booth that is keeping your taxes 20 percent higher than they should be. Putting conservatives on the Board of County Commissioners will bring about a reduction in taxes. Fake Frankie and Randy the RINO are blindly supported by the Beaufort County Republican Party.
The Conservative Club has sample ballots. We can email (call 252-975-3472) them, or you may pick up at 110 West Second Street in Washington.
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Mr. Leary has specifically shown how far present-day Beaufort County Republican Party leadership is disconnected from the rules of the Party. They are a rogue organization.
The leadership goes to great lengths to completely avoid answering any pertinent questions. Here are a few they need to answer to their own executive committee: What was the role of the Victory Committee or individual Victory Committee members in the release and production of a tape and other hitjobs on a private citizen? Why didn't the Victory Committee report to the Executive Committee on its activities during elections and otherwise? Where are the fiscal reports? Has a present-day executive committee vice chairman ever attended or had any knowledge of Victory Committee activities, yet? Why were Executive Committee meetings immediately shut down when members asked these and other legitimate questions? Also, what was the role of the Victory Committee in the public attacks on a local Republican public official in the local press? We know two of the individual members were actively involved in that episode, and one other Victory Committee member had a conflict of interest because he was a primary opponent of the attacked public official. Was the Victory Committee and or Victory Committee members in communication with the former Beaufort County School Superintendent during that time? Why has the Party Chairman (and others?) been given the green light to act with the authority of the local GOP on Facebook, oftentimes in attacking conservative Republican public officials? This usually happens with one person saying they are the Party, but recently the Party Chairman has been using the chairman title and her name also. I suppose these are just a few of the questions the Victory Committee could report to the Executive Committee on. I'm aware of Executive Committee members that are still in the dark on these matters and are wondering. Some would like to know so they can answer questions from the community, because citizens are wanting to know what in the hell is going on in the local GOP. |
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Hood needs to retire and take his meds. Unfortunately, Beaufort County will continue to be Republican for the forseeable future.
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According to the 2026 State Plan of Organization, the chair of the county committee nominates the chair of these subcommittees.
From Section 4-203 "...Upon taking office, the County Chair shall nominate (i) the Election Integrity Chair and the Audit Committee Chair and (ii) may nominate a General Counsel and a Finance Committee Chair, if that Committee is created in accordance with Section 4-302(d), each of whom shall be subject to confirmation by the County Executive Committee". If the person nominated to chair these subcommittees are not confirmed by the Executive Committee, the chair is obligated to nominate someone else. The implication of this language is that subcommittee chairs must be nominated and members appointed upon the completion of the county convention every odd numbered year. The county PoO is to be brought into compliance with the current state PoO by December 31 following the effective date of the state plan. |
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Van Zant: Exactly.
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Sub committees of committees are (or should be) accountable to the overall committee. They cannot legitimately be formed without the advice and consent of the overall committee. They cannot legitimately operate in secrecy or semi-secrecy. There must be a level of transparency, especially fiscal transparency. In the case of a Republican Party Executive Committee, they cannot operate outside the bounds of the Republican Party Plan of Organization. Organized Republicans cannot allow a sub-committee of an official committee to be the mechanism for getting around official rules and regulations as well as basic ethical rules of conduct.
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Steve Rader: You know I like; think you are most brilliant when it comes to politics /governing. If I were you, I would disabuse myself (that would be you) from the so-called Victory Committee.
I warn that committee this: If this "Victory Committee" steps out of line as to what is politically proper, I will tear a great big whole into them on my time, at my discretion. Their job is to drive the voters to the polls, and when it comes to county commissioners' election, they best be even handed. As far as any lies told in any whisper campaign regarding me, I will tear an even bigger hole if I can match names to lies told. This is not a threat; it is a promise. |
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Forming a special small committee of experienced campaign veterans to micromanage a party organization's campaign efforts is a common practice. In my day as county GOP chairman, we called it the Campaign Committee. In the current First District party organization it is called the Forge committee. When our county was in the Third District, it went under various names, and I served on it under various names. In the most recent election, it was a special offshoot of the Finance Committee. The idea is that elections are dynamic, and the party has to roll with the punches. Executive Committees meet monthly and cannot deal with that without much more frequent meetings.
Specific campaign strategies are not something one posts on open sources. It is not something that needs to be laid out for the Democrats. However, in any off year (non-presidential) election, the goal of any party is turnout. Increasing turnout of the pro-Republican occasional voters helps the whole ticket. Picking the candidates and issues that will do that is based on several things. One is polling, where it is available. Another is experience on which offices have historically generated the most voter interest. Sometimes, it can be a ballot issue such as a Constitutional Referendum rather than a candidate. . As to the last city council race, the Victory Committee ran radio, direct mail, and digital advertising in support of all five candidates who were registered Republicans, and named each of them in the ads. NONE of them were opposed in any way. As a result of both the Victory Committee's advertising combined with that of the Conservative Club, which did an excellent direct mail piece and signs, two Republicans were elected and two ran very close. The Victory Committee recognizes that under limited voting, county commission candidates are still competing with each other and therefore the committee should not get involved in that race. It is almost like another primary. Individual members may have their own preferences as to candidates. The victory committee was not involved in the primary and did not even hold meetings during that period. |
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Folk's want to hear the truth...good, bad or ugly; they already know it ain't good no matter how many times the powers that be polish the turd.