Republican party officials are becoming concerned that mounting dysfunction in a set of state Republican parties could imperil the GOP’s chances in 2024, going so far as to leave the eventual Republican presidential nominee hamstrung on party infrastructure in key battleground states.
The worries are based on the recent ousters of two state Republican Party chairs in Michigan and Florida, as well as dangerously low finances, ideological clashes and personal scandals that have hobbled the parties in those states plus Arizona and Georgia. And in Nevada, the party has had to deal with the fallout of its chair and vice chair being indicted in a 2020 fake electors case. Each of these states is set to play an essential role in the 2024 races for control of the House of Representatives, control of the Senate and even the presidency.
“I think it’s going to be a problem,” said Oscar Brock, a member of the Republican National Committee from Tennessee. “Any time that you have a state party that’s dysfunctional and suffering from financial problems – which comes with dysfunction – you’re going to have a hard time having a unified campaign in the fall to elect Republicans.”
The dysfunction has spurred some local and national Republican officials to consider ways around having to work closely with state parties. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, after feuding with state loyalists allied with former President Donald Trump, set up his own organization to circumvent the party’s fundraising efforts. In states such as Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin, Republicans have depended more on national outside groups like Americans for Prosperity or Turning Point USA to fulfill some of the roles that previously made state parties essential. And in some cases, state parties have been severely damaged by an organized effort called “precinct strategy” to insert fringe activists…
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