Alaska GOP Coup a Bad Sign for National Party’s Future

The Republican Party of Alaska has become a perfect microcosm for everything that is wrong with the Republican Party today. It has all the problems that have cropped up in other state GOP organizations gathered together in one state and taken to their worst extreme.

Abuse of power, disenfranchisement of grassroots members, misappropriation of funds, purges of members, negation of the electoral process and what amounts to a full-scale coup have all been used to keep an established party elite in power against the will of the people.

A backlash against these tactics is inevitable.

The Alaska GOP refused to properly seat elected Chairman Russ Millette and subsequently attempted to remove Vice Chair Debbie Brown when she assumed the Chairmanship. This past week, the takeover of the party was confirmed when the Central Committee rejected appeals from Millette and Brown, reaffirming the unelected installation of establishment favorite Peter Goldberg as the new party Chairman. Goldberg will be the fourth Chairman the party has had in a year, a very unhealthy sign for any organization.

In the interim, they also carried out purges of party members from other leadership positions, including declaring the entire elected membership of their District 12 Executive Committee to essentially not exist. From the lowest Precinct Committeeman to the District Chairman, the entire District was unseated with no due process, not even a hearing, at the whim of party leaders who didn’t like having an entire District in disagreement with their actions.

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