Missouri Republicans ignore state convention results to select new presidential delegates

All of Missouri's votes at the Republican National Convention will go to former President Donald Trump's nomination, but the fight over who will cast those votes is opening new rifts in the state's Republican party apparatus.

The Missouri Republican Party Executive Committee on Wednesday selected 27 statewide delegates and 26 alternate delegates to replace the delegates elected at the state convention May 4 and removed June 28 by the convention's elections committee following complaints about the selection process.

The Elections Commission has ruled that there were “stunning irregularities” in the elections for the Republican State Convention in Springfield. The commission focused on a five-hour qualification process that it said undermined confidence that the delegates appearing in person were the ones selected by their county meetings to attend the convention.

The new delegate list obtained by The Independent includes a significant number of candidates that state party chairman Nick Myers prepared for the convention but who were not nominated.

The executive committee could have resubmitted the discarded list, but only five people chosen at the convention – two delegates and three alternates – were selected to replace them, and two of those delegates told The Independent they did not consent to being selected.

Carla Grew of St. Louis, who was selected as an alternate at the state convention and on the new roster, said she and her husband, Gary Grew (who, like her, was selected at both the state convention and on Wednesday's roster), never agreed to being separated from their roster.

“I think the party's conduct is deeply corrupt,” Grew said in a text message to The Independent. “Nick should resubmit a slate of 'grassroots true Trump supporters' candidates.”

Of the 27 newly elected delegates, 20 were leader-list delegates or alternate delegates. Of the 26 newly elected delegates, 10 were leader-list delegates.

The original delegation included two of the party's three gubernatorial candidates, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel, but they are not included in the new delegation.

“I will not participate in any other slate of candidates than those formally selected by the Republican state convention,” Eigel said in a text message to The Independent. “Everyone who participates in this new 'Swamp Slate of Candidates,' from the Republican Executive Committee to the delegates who have accepted this charade, is part of the problem.”

Ashcroft declined to comment.

Prominent members of the new delegation include former U.S. Rep. Billy Long, state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, candidate for secretary of state, and Missouri Right to Life executive director Susan Klein.

The move to reject delegates elected at state conventions has sparked frustration within the Republican Party.

“The state party is responsible for the chaos at the state convention and now it is their responsibility to select new delegates and alternates to attend the national convention in less than two weeks,” said a statement posted to multiple social media accounts by 6th District Republican Central Committee Chairman Mark Schneider. “Hotel rooms, flights and other arrangements have been made. This is an utter disgrace to the process, the party and the grassroots movement that has taken the time to participate at the county and state level.”

Schneider said the solution is to resubmit the names selected at the convention.

“The infighting within our party must stop, and that starts with state leadership recognizing the results of our state conventions and allowing duly elected delegates and alternates to attend the national convention,” he wrote.

The deadline for submitting new delegates was 4pm on Friday, but the deadline to appeal the Electoral Commission's decision is Saturday. Coby Cullins, a member of the convention's elected delegates, said in an email to The Independent that he was preparing to appeal.

Cullins said he believes the election committee was a “tainted juror” influenced by Missouri Republican National Committee member Carrie Almond.

The appeal will present evidence that the results of the state competition should be accepted.

“The facts are on our side, including hours of video evidence and approximately 300 notarized affidavits.”

If the contest committee does not reverse its policy, it will ultimately be appealed to the tournament's qualifications committee.

“We are hopeful that this very different committee will allow us to speak, and we are confident that if they do, the truth will prevail,” Cullins said. “Grassroots people in Missouri are tired of being told to 'conform,' and we are fighting back to take the Republican Party back from the swamp of the establishment.”

Missouri Republican Party spokeswoman Erica Choyinka did not return calls and text messages seeking comment.

Dan O'Sullivan, one of two delegate candidates who filed the complaint, said he did not believe the appeal would be successful.

“I can't imagine anyone would challenge our decision when they can't provide a list of people who have qualified at the tournament,” O'Sullivan said.

O'Sullivan said he had been told an offer had been made to include more delegates and alternates elected by the convention but that it had been rejected.

O'Sullivan and Derrick Good of Jefferson County, who also filed a complaint, were elected representatives Wednesday.

The May 4 party convention was in disarray: an election commission report said evidence showed many delegates arrived without credentials and that party staff used the wrong list and distributed newly issued credentials without checking who would receive them.

The convention took five hours to open and then a fight ensued for the speaker position, with Eigel's gubernatorial campaign manager, Sophia Shore, being selected over party leader candidate Eddie Justice.

Under convention rules, delegates are selected by a slate of candidates who must fill all slots. Before the slate was named, there was a dispute over what Shore's supporters saw as inconsistencies in the rules.

One part of the rules said the list of candidates must include 27 delegates and 27 alternates, while another said 16 delegates and 16 alternates must be nominated at congressional district conferences and recommended by Myers at the state convention.

Missouri can send 54 delegates and 54 alternates to the Republican National Convention, scheduled to begin in Milwaukee on July 15: three from each of the state's eight districts, 27 from the statewide seat and three reserved for the party chairman.

Once the convention agreed to changes proposed by Meyers to eliminate the 16 delegates and 16 alternates, the slate of true Trump supporters became the only complete slate that met the nomination rules.

The dispute over the rules was mentioned in the complaint filed by O'Sullivan and Good, but the competitions committee decided it did not need to consider that part of the complaint because there were serious flaws in the qualification process.

“The Commission reserves the right to reconsider any remaining issues if appealed,” the report said.

O'Sullivan said he was not upset about not being selected as a delegate but complained because the conference had been so poorly run that he blamed the party leadership for it and said it had been so bad that it was pointless.

“They didn't get the qualifications right,” O'Sullivan said. “There was no conspiracy to ruin it. It was incompetence. It's an embarrassment for everyone.”