Why Should We Care About the Process?
Many might be puzzled by the recent meetings and conventions. The RPK rules are not intuitive and lead to many questions. The reason for the County Mass Meeting, 4th District Convention and the Kentucky State Convention is so that Kentucky citizens can participate in choosing our republican presidential candidate. The system of delegates and slates brings the quote by Abraham Lincoln to reality. This is a system of government of the people, by the people and for the people.
We have six congressional districts:
1st – James Comer
2nd – Brett Guthrie
3rd – Morgan McGarvey
4th – Thomas Massie
5th– Hal Rogers
6th- Andy Barr
Each district is allotted 3 delegates bringing to total to 18 delegates to go to the Republican National Convention.
The three people to represent the 4th district were decided on Saturday, April 27th at the 4th District Convention. Our 3 delegates who were accepted are Jon Park (4th district chairman), Shane Noem (4th district youth chair), and Thomas Massie (4th district representative). We chose our 3.
18 people (out of 46) who by all rights should be grassroots citizens, but typically aren’t grassroots, are sent to the Republican National Convention to vote for our Republican candidate. But where do the other 28 delegates come from?
Below you will find a pie chart from 2016. 2020 was skipped because 2020 was not a typical convention year. There is one change on the pie chart. The 24 at-large delegates are not 25 at-large delegates.
Delegates Going to Wisconsin in 2024
The three RNC Delegates are from RPK:
Chairman Robert Benvenuiti
Vice-Chairwoman Deanna Brangers
National Committeewoman KC Crosbie
The 18 District Delegates are from the 6 congressional districts.
The At-Large Delegates will be voted on at the state convention May 18, 2024, in Somerset Kentucky. The At-Large delegates are where most of the well know elected officials or Republican members will be voted on. This will take these people getting the majority vote from 800+ people. This is why the district convention is obviously for the grassroots citizens.
The table below shows how the 45 delegates voted in 2016. You can see why grassroots citizens having a voice in the process is so important. Two people voting for Ted Cruz could have changed everything. The chart below shows Donald Trump won 17 of the 45 votes:
The 2024 4th District Convention Report
The convention convened on April 27 at 1 pm at Northern Kentucky University in the Student Union building. Committees were instructed to arrive and meet between noon and 1 pm.
The four committees were:
Permanent Organizational Committee – Cole Cuzick
The Nominations Committee – Christine McLaughlin
The Credentials Committee – Steve Mueller
The Rules Committee – Marcie Clark
The delegates from Boone arrived between 11 am and 1 pm. The Nominations committee meeting began at noon. People who wanted to be a delegate had to send a letter in explaining why they would be a good citizen to send to the RNC. The letters had to be turned in by April 17, 2024. The choices for the people the Nominations Committee could slate because they turned in a letter for district delegate are listed below:
Collin Johnson: Shelby County
Dan Ison: Shelby County
David Osbourne: Oldham Count
Elizabeth O. Smith (grassroots): Boone County
Gerald Thomas Moore (grassroots): Grant County
Joe Koroluk (grassroots?): Shelby County
Jon Park: Shelby County
Patrick Jennings: Oldham County
Rob Meyer: Campbell County
Russell Coleman: Oldham County
Shane Noem: Kenton County
Shelley Funke Frommeyer: Campbell County
Thomas Massie: Lewis County
Thomas Sheffer: Oldham County
The slate passed in the Nominations Committee with 10 counties voting for and 5 (Boone, Grant, Nelson, with two other unknown counties) voting against the slate below:
There was a total of 106 votes.
The first slate for Presidential Elector (black) was approved unanimously with the first vote.
The RNC Delegates and Alternates (red) were approved 62 to 44. Boone County was part of the 44 who voted against the slate. As the Boone County Chairman, Chet Hand explained during a motion for point of order that the BCRP believes, with the exception of Representative Thomas Massie, that district delegates should be held for grassroots citizens.
The four committee members (yellow) were also approved 61 to 44. Again, Boone County was part of the 44 voting against the slate. One person from Kenton County had to leave early, hence the difference in votes from the two contested slates.
Liberty Republicans listed below:
Boone County (26)
Chet Hand
Cole Cuzick
Rebecca Cuzick
Christine McLaughlin
Steve Mueller
Marcie Clark
Mark Kunkel
Karen Strayer
Sherry Brackney
Mark Brackney
Bill Kunkel
Karen Kunkel
Tammy Skaats
Gerry Gilliam
Joni Persinger
Bruce Persinger
George Hummeldorf
Lisa Pence
John Pence
John Schickel
Randy Stigall
Elizabeth Smith
Jared Smock
Chad Hand
Allen Volz
Alternate: Angie Cable
Campbell County (6)
Tammy Nolan
Gerry Gerding
Jesse Hockenberry
3 unknown
Gallatin County (2)
Wayne Rassman
Trudy Rassman
Grant County (1)
Gerald Moore
Kenton County (1)
Steve Doan
Nelson County (2)
Kevin Clements
Valerie Mayer
Oldham County (2)
Lance Pearson
John Nelson
Owen County (3)
Carol Shelton
Sallie Sparks
Tracy Griffieth
Boone County was in the back so the delegates called their votes audibly so they wouldn’t be miscounted or misunderstood.
Steve Doan was applauded by Boone, Campbell, Gallatin, Nelson, Oldham, and Owen Counties for his willingness to stand alone (Kenton sent 21 delegates) and vote against two of the three slates. Gerald Moore (Grant) also was applauded by Boone, Campbell, Gallatin, Nelson, Oldham, and Owen Counties for his willingness to stand alone as he was the only delegate for Grant County. He also voted against 2 of the 3 slates.
There was a total of 107 voters, but Allison Roeding from Kenton County had to leave, so there total 106 voters in the last slate.
One last note: the rules committee passed the temporary rules. The rules were accepted with 8 votes for and 6 against. Boone voted against the temporary rules due to some needed amendments to the rules. If one of the rules had been utilized it would have left one county without a voice due to how the rule was written.