Comments by Van Zant | Eastern NC Now

The Victory Committee has STILL not reported to the Executive Committee. These people live in an alternate reality universe, where they are not accountable for anything, and if they get questioned on their indiscretions it's the boogieman's fault for asking.

Commented: Saturday, April 25th, 2026 @ 7:56 am By: Van Zant

The response from RO is indicative of the lack of respect for fair play that comes from the present "leadership". These deviations from Republican Party rules as well as platform planks make them hypocrites in what they are actually selling politically. In other words, if they use poor practices in their organization, why should we expect better practices from them if we elect them to public offices? I think smarter candidates are distancing themselves from the party for that reason.

I got a report about the Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday night. Said they gave an updated listing of the Victory Committee members and added the Vice-Chair. LOL That was interesting because even though the "leadership" constantly demonstrates they do not want to hear from the committee itself, they do hear the Beaufort Observer! Also, they do not care a wit that it is stipulated in their own Plan of Organization! It is obvious that this bunch given their basic instincts want to dictate and will only eventually follow some of the rules if pressured or shamed into doing so.

My friend says the "leadership" still claims to have the right to create secret committees without Executive Committee approval and with committee organizational life extending beyond conventions and perpetuating permanently beyond the life of actual legitimate Executive Committees themselves over time. In short, they have created a ruling oligarchy that survives independently of party conventions, party rules, elected party executive committees, or anything else while simultaneously controlling the elected party. So ultimately, this self-proclaimed, unelected oligarchy, follows NO rules and has complete control of the party.

You have to look hard to find any committee anywhere so rooted in corruption as this one in Beaufort County.

Commented: Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026 @ 7:06 pm By: Van Zant

"A southern man don't need him [her] around anyhow."

Commented: Monday, April 20th, 2026 @ 11:40 am By: Van Zant

It didn't take long. It seems that Joe Davis meant his campaign rhetoric and he is being persecuted for it. Clearly Max Perreault didn't mean anything he said.

Is the county Republican Party still at odds with Davis? Are they still all in behind Perreault? Is that mysterious Victory Committee involved in this, too?

Commented: Friday, April 17th, 2026 @ 5:48 pm By: Van Zant

Nobody is getting answers about the Victory Committee. Hood is just trying harder than the rest. Oh, and not leaving is not shouting. We get it. You don't like Hood. So what?

Commented: Thursday, April 16th, 2026 @ 10:08 am By: Van Zant

Mr. Richardson: You said that some of these commentors are attacking you personally and not addressing the issues. I agree with that.

You also said, "None of you are capable of discussing the issues I have raised." I do disagree with that. I think they are not WILLING to discuss the issues you have raised.

Commented: Thursday, April 16th, 2026 @ 9:50 am By: Van Zant

Notice how much these people will blab about anything OTHER than reporting on what the Victory Committee is responsible for doing, what the Victory Committee is responsible for spending, and how much the Victory Committee did, using the clout of the Executive Committee without reporting any of it to the Executive Committee. Crickets on all of that.

No one would go to such lengths these people have gone to NOT report on any of this if they were not hiding something. It would be comical if it were not so sad.

Consider this: We've seen the lengths these local GOP leaders will go to protect their RINO friends in local government. We've also seen the lengths they will go to slander conservative officeholders. They are doing that in this conversation here and now with Hood. Why do they not like Hood? He's a conservative and he is asking pertinent questions in executive committee meetings they do not want to answer. That's it. That's why they call the police, take ridiculous cases to court and otherwise make fools out of themselves.

We have three conservative Republicans on the Beaufort County Commission: Deatherage, Dunn, and Richardson. These folks arguing on this thread would have people believe the conservatives are blocking getting things done. That is not true. The two RINOS, Walker and Waters have aligned with the two Democrats and are THE reason our taxes are so high and going higher. The votes go 4 to 3. That's easy math.

Think about this. We are seeing the attacks on Hood on this thread. A few short years ago, this same party chairman brought ridiculous disloyalty charges against Tandy Dunn. Tandy took it to arbitration and was completely cleared. The process took a long time. It was nothing but harassment just like the list of conservatives that are being persecuted with crazy charges now. See the pattern?

Stan Deatherage is up for election this year. He has never voted for a tax increase ever. You can bet these local GOP "leaders" are coming after him, too. That's what they do. It's easy to predict because we have a long, long track record with these people.

Conservatives need to be extra careful and not let the people using convoluted arguments confuse them. People have records. Those that do not can be known by the people backing them. With all the facts, this is not confusing. Conservatives are not the enemy. They are our only hope.

Commented: Wednesday, April 15th, 2026 @ 11:09 pm By: Van Zant

RO: The thing is these questions are all rooted in addressing abuses of power. The leadership should have addressed these things honestly to start with. The fact that they were not addressed up front demonstrates willful intent to undermine and disrespect the Executive Committee and the results of the 2025 Beaufort County Republican Convention. When the questions from the committee started coming, after a several months drought in even having a meeting, they were met with obscuration in the form of ruling speakers out of order, not recognizing committee speakers outright, unilaterally ruling members as non-members, calling the police, filing legal complaints for stalking against members refusing to leave meetings and adjourning meetings outright mid meeting. You seem to believe the questions have just not been asked. They have been attempted in meetings, and they have been asked outside of meetings. The truth is the leadership is contorting weirdly in shaping ways of not addressing any of the issues at hand.

It sounds like you are not sure there would be good answers to my questions either, but since it is Mr. Richardson involved changes everything. That's where I disagree with you. Using a personal hatred mania is a poor excuse for ignoring important issues and hiding deeds that need to see the light of day. In Mr. Richardson's defense, refusing to leave a meeting he has a right to attend is not poor conduct whatever you may think of the man otherwise. It is certainly not stalking. What is worth so much to go to these extremes in order to not have to deal with the questions?

Convenient excuses do not make good excuses. Poor conduct is dreaming up far-fetched concocted reasons someone is no longer on a committee. That applies to Mr. Richardson as well as a growing list of other people deemed by one person using little real evidence and absolutely no due process. This is both poor conduct and awful leadership. The supporters of this one person using these tactics are responsible too. Of course, the Executive Committee as a whole is completely left out of everything. So much for advice and consent.

Why are people so afraid of hearing Mr. Richardson's questions and concerns? For the record his concerns are my concerns. In fact, many people want answers to these questions. I believe leadership is afraid because they are legitimate concerns about abuses of power. These circumstances demand real accountability.

People do not have to like each other to work together. Using and not abusing the rules paired with sound ethics and a level of professionalism is the only way to approach these matters. I can't see that happening with this group of people. They're not mature enough to do it. That's a shame because the times we live in need a good moral Republican Party.

Commented: Sunday, April 12th, 2026 @ 12:23 pm By: Van Zant

I've been asking people I know on the Executive Committee about that disclosure of Victory Committee members at the last meeting at a residence. They all said that when the sub-committee was brought up, the Chair did ask the Victory Committee members to stand. My sources said that in the crowded residence they could see some and could not identify others. When exec. committee members asked about clarification of some that were not there, no response followed. I'm told that Mr. Hickman complained about the lack of transparency and then there was a discussion that wandered away from anything pertinent.

To put this all in perspective, that meeting was in March 2026. This Executive Committee was formed from the Beaufort County Republican Convention of 2025. It has been a year, and this committee is still not sure about who is on the Victory Committee and what they have improperly authorized. I'm not even sure the Executive Committee before the 2025 convention knew.

There is plenty of spinning going on, but it is clear to me that this is not a healthy Republican Party Executive Committee. People are going to great lengths to keep things hidden over extended time periods.

Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 8:43 pm By: Van Zant

When Executive Committee members to this day are not entirely sure who is on their sub-committees and these sub-committees do not report to the overall committee, that is certainly a lack of transparency. Even more so when the sub-committee is taking actions that should be reserved for the overall committee.

Also, note the nastiness in the tone of many of the "establishment" members. What they attribute to Mr. Richardson regularly more often comes from them. That same trait was evident in the proceedings of the ridiculous court action Ms. Garris brought against Mr. Richardson that was dismissed after a comical display by the Garris faction. Leadership requires effort and hopefully ethics. There is not much on display from this group.

What they are doing now is a doubling down on their Victory Committee plans for the County Commission general election. Working for the party itself is not something they are mature enough to do.

Commented: Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 @ 8:09 pm By: Van Zant

Whoops. I left out the registered Democrat in the commission race - Ed Booth. He's the Democrat that broke his promises to south side of the river residents when he voted against Snowden School.

Commented: Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 @ 11:51 am By: Van Zant

Correction: The Beaufort County Republican Party is a rogue organization. A rogue organization with a rouge face.

Commented: Saturday, March 28th, 2026 @ 8:05 am By: Van Zant

What did we learn about the local GOP at their convention Thursday night? One glaring tidbit is the notion that a subcommittee appointed by the chairman has to report to the overall executive committee is out of order by this convention. Think about that for a moment. This is so convoluted that it transcends organizational plans entirely. This is just basic relationships between committees. Summation of the party in a word: Corruption. It will not get better until better leaders come forward.

Commented: Friday, March 27th, 2026 @ 6:52 am By: Van Zant

I've been researching that executive committee meeting at the private residence last week. According to my reports, the "leadership" is defending the use of the "Victory Committee" and has relegated the actual Executive Committee" to the role of worker bees. Yes, they are out of sync with the actual Republican Party Plan of organization in a very big way.

What do you get when someone allows themselves to be both neutered and lobotomized? Answer: The Beaufort County Republican Party Executive Committee. What do you get when ruling power has been set up by a few persons? An unauthorized oligarchy. That is what has become of the Beaufort County Republican Party.

Commented: Sunday, March 22nd, 2026 @ 7:49 am By: Van Zant

T be T: Speaking of a hoot, "I know you do not ..., ..., ... ."

No, you do not know anything. You do what you always do - make up a false narrative.

Commented: Friday, March 20th, 2026 @ 5:06 am By: Van Zant

Someone tell me if what I have been told is right. In the local Republican Executive Committee meetings (when they have one) the Chairman sometimes asks for a report from the County Commission. Doesn't she always ask for that report from Frankie Waters or Randy Walker and never from Commissioner Deatherage, Dunn or Richardson? Coincidence or indicator?

Commented: Tuesday, March 17th, 2026 @ 8:33 pm By: Van Zant

Stan: Yes, I believe you are stating the obvious, even though it is not obvious to a lot of people in the general public. The local Republican Party is bizarro world.

You're right. This corrupt party organization did everything but get the vote out for Republicans. The only thing these disparate factions come together on is their opposition to most conservatives - the exception seems to be Kidwell. The big mystery with Kidwell is his conservatism in Raleigh weighted against his alliance with those working against conservatives at home. That strategy did not work for him in this primary with a well-funded challenger.

Excluding most conservatives is a very bad strategy for building the party. These stupid strategies create a blissful environment for the liberals coming over from the Democrat Party looking for an election platform to operate from. They are the group benefiting most from this local party run by morons and crooks.

Commented: Monday, March 16th, 2026 @ 8:36 pm By: Van Zant