Candidate for Mass. Republican State Committee seat accuses chairman of bylaw violation
“How else are you going to get people to run if he’s picking his winners and losers before they have a chance to get out there?”
A candidate running for a Massachusetts Republican State Committee seat claims Chairman Jim Lyons violated a bylaw when he endorsed her opponent.
Boxford resident Laura Sapienza-Grabski filed a complaint with the party’s Executive Committee earlier this month, saying that Lyons told her he was backing incumbent Amanda Orlando Kesterson in the race for the First Essex & Middlesex state committee seat, the Boston Herald reports.
Specifically, Sapienza-Grabski points to a bylaw stating the party chairperson or any committee employee shall not “assist, aid or publicly endorse any candidate in favor of another in either a contested Republican primary or any contested election for office within the State Committee,” according to the newspaper.
Those who violate the regulation can be removed from their positions. To override the bylaw, a two-thirds majority vote from the Executive Committee is required.
Sapienza-Grabski accused Lyons of attempting to dissuade her from mounting the campaign by telling her of his endorsement, the Herald reports.
His endorsement is listed on Kesterson’s Facebook page.
“The chairman needs to be neutral in a contested race for people in his own party,” Sapienza-Grabski told the newspaper. “How else are you going to get people to run if he’s picking his winners and losers before they have a chance to get out there?”
On Tuesday, Lyons told the Herald he stood by the endorsement.
“We’ve never violated the bylaws,” he said. “We’ve checked with counsel and counsel has made it crystal clear.”
Party counsel said the rule applies for offices within the committee, not for candidates in races for state committee, according to the newspaper.
Sapienza-Grabski suggested the bylaw should be tweaked to specify that the party chairman is prohibited from endorsing committee candidates in contested races, the Herald reports.
“She wants to insert in the bylaw a change that adds that the chairman cannot get involved in the state committee races,” Lyons said. “Her own letter just confirms the fact that our interpretation of the bylaws is correct.”
After the MassGOP website was hacked last week, the bylaws are currently unavailable online as officials work to get the site back in order, according to the Herald.
The election is on March 3.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com