Chaos before the College Republicans convention

These letters are written by a college or university, verifying the recognition of a College Republicans chapter on campus. Before, states only needed these letters if they did not submit information prior to the initial February deadline to qualify for voting. All 10 federations denied delegates endorsed Judah Waxelbaum in the election for CRNC national chairman.

Waxelbaum, who also serves as the CRNC’s western regional vice chairman, told the Washington Examiner on Monday that federations that endorsed Courtney Britt, another candidate for national chair, were granted an appeal. Hunter Wilson, a member of the CRNC credentials committee, told the Washington Examiner that credential appeals were granted to five states that endorsed Britt, while appeals were denied for nine states that endorsed Waxelbaum.

Wilson also described the general disposition of the national chairman and co-chairman during the Sunday meeting. He recalls that the national chairman and co-chairman were more hostile to appeals made by federations that endorsed Waxelbaum.

“Individuals from states that support Judah Waxelbaum were repeatedly cut off by the Co-Chairman and Arbitrator while ample time was given to individuals that support Courtney Britt, even when they lacked an appeal or any supporting evidence for their claims,” Wilson explained.

As for the arbitrator’s rule change, Waxelbaum argued that the procedure used at the Sunday meeting was contrary to all prior interpretations of Article V, Section 9.2 of the CRNC constitution. Wilson believes that the change was inconsistent, noting that this year’s arbitrator was also the arbitrator for the 2019 convention, when letters of recognition were not required. “The constitution has not been changed between now and then, so the interpretation is inconsistent,” Wilson said.

Amplify CRNC, a group that has endorsed Britt, told the Washington Examiner that this year’s credentialing process was in line with both the CRNC constitution and procedures from past conventions. Excerpts from the CRNC constitution provided by Amplify CRNC state that federations must submit “an official letter from a college or university recognizing the club at that school for at least two clubs in the state federation.”

Waxelbaum also alleges that there was an organized campaign against him. He said, “Somehow my opponent knew that all those people would need those letters, even though there’s never been a convention where this interpretation was how these things were conducted.” He added, “It is clear this was a coordinated effort to not allow Ignite CRNC states to know this interpretation would be used for the meeting, as all letters were submitted 2 hours before the meeting at 4:01 AM ET.”

Though the Washington Examiner cannot verify whether a “coordinated effort” took place, screenshots obtained by Waxelbaum appear to show that the North Dakota, Tennessee, Maine, and Iowa federations, whose chairs endorsed Britt, submitted their letters of recognition to the arbitrator and members of the credentialing committee. All of these submissions were sent around 4 a.m. EDT, with the same format for the subject line and email body text.

Wilson confirmed that he also received late submission emails with the same characteristics.

In a video posted to Twitter, Britt dismissed what she called “wild claims of voter disenfranchisement,” pointing out that 35 states properly submitted the documentation required to receive delegates. She also asserted that eight delegations were not assigned delegates because they “failed to meet the criteria set forth in the CRNC constitution to vote at the convention.”

Earlier in the video, she also explained that, in accordance with the CRNC constitution, an “independent, unbiased, licensed” arbitrator oversaw the meeting. She added that the arbitrator was unanimously approved by the state chairs. Amplify CRNC agreed, saying that the national board “approved a resolution to allow the National Chairman to contract with the arbitrator” this past May.

Excerpts to the CRNC constitution provided by Amplify CRNC seem to corroborate this. According to the sections provided to the Washington Examiner, the national chairman must submit a “proposed contract with a qualified arbitrator,” and the national board then approves a contract with an arbitrator.

However, Wilson disputes this account of the arbitration process. In a Wednesday morning interview with the Washington Examiner, Wilson claimed that the arbitrator was appointed by the national chairman. He added that during the Sunday meeting, “the arbitrator said he was bound to the constitutional interpretations given to him by the national co-chairman.”

Wilson and other sources say that only a unanimous vote of the credentials committee could overturn the decision of the arbitrator. But Wilson also told the Washington Examiner that the national co-chairman also has a vote on the committee. “This process merely gives the illusion of democratic value, when in actuality, the Credentials Committee is entirely powerless,” Wilson said.

Despite Britt’s assertions that the unqualified federations did not abide by the CRNC constitution, one state federation chairwoman believed that she was following the rules.

Chairwoman Stephanie Torres of the Florida Federation of College Republicans explained to the Washington Examiner that her federation submitted its credentials and then entered a lengthy, detailed appeal, containing chapter leadership information, student registration emails, campus leadership addresses, membership rosters, and additional testimony.

Torres, who is also a candidate for national co-chair, told the Washington Examiner that she had sought Britt’s input on the appeal. Torres recounts, “[Britt] said, ‘Everything is going to be OK. I can’t give you any guarantees, but I think your appeal is good to go.’” Wilson corroborated this in his interview with the Washington Examiner.

However, the morning of the meeting, Torres first learned from the arbitrator that each state federation still needed two university letters verifying the presence of an active College Republicans chapter. Amplify CRNC has not responded to a request for comment on this specific incident.

Another separate development has added to the uncertainty surrounding the convention. In a tweet sent Monday evening, CRNC national treasurer Ty Seymour posted screenshots of what appeared to be an email sent by CRNC national Chairman Chandler Thornton to members of the CRNC executive committee.

In the email sent at 5:53 p.m. EDT on Monday, Thornton seemed to inform executive committee members that he was calling a meeting seven minutes later to elect a chair to the Committee on Convention Rules. The national chairman apparently noted that the position needed to be filled in accordance with the CRNC constitution.

Thornton also appeared to acknowledge that under the CRNC constitution, a meeting cannot be called without giving 14-days notice unless all committee members either attend or provide a written waiver of notice.

A subsequent screenshot from Seymour shows his reply to the email that simply read, “I do not provide consent.” In an exclusive interview Tuesday afternoon with the Washington Examiner, Seymour said that the last time the 14-day notice requirement was waived was in January, when the national committee was making decisions on the convention.

He added that he believed that the notice requirement was not waived and that the executive committee violated the CRNC constitution. Seymour also disclosed that he heard the committee elected a chair for the convention rules committee. Wilson confirmed this separately.

Seymour thinks these actions by the executive committee raise questions about the biennial convention. “Not only did it violate the constitution, this meeting needed to happen for the convention to take place,” Seymour explained to the Washington Examiner, adding that there was “growing discomfort” over the actions taken on Monday.

Waxelbaum, who also did not attend the meeting, concurred, “It’s unclear what we can do if the CRNC assumes what happened at this unconstitutional meeting was, in fact, constitutional.” However, a source familiar with the CRNC situation told the Washington Examiner that, under the CRNC constitution, 20 states could sign on to a letter stating that the convention was improper and that its results should be brought into question.

Ahead of this Saturday’s convention, several of the state federations that were denied credentials are currently pursuing a different avenue to restore their votes. The Florida federation has called on other CRNC federations to support a pending motion that would restore the “minimum required delegates to all states who were disenfranchised.”

Torres told the Washington Examiner that she’s received overwhelming support from former Florida federation chairs and alumni. She pointed to the Florida federation’s success in getting nearly 1 million voter contracts this year, despite the challenges of the pandemic and natural disasters. “We have always been there for the Republican Party,” she said, “and we just want a voice.”

“I hope that other state federations and their delegates agree with that,” Torres added.

Wilson informed the Washington Examiner that a “general body of states can vote against certifying the Credentials Report” at this week’s convention. However, he remains cautiously optimistic about the motion’s outcome.

“The arbitrator ruled against allotting delegates to so many states that it may be impossible to have enough votes to vote against certification. My hope is that there are enough people in the CRNC willing to let the disenfranchised states have a voice at the convention,” Wilson told the Washington Examiner.

It is unclear at the moment whether the pending motion will pass at this Saturday’s convention. One thing is certain, however. If the motion fails, at least one state federation will consider leaving the CRNC.

In a statement released Tuesday evening, the Texas Federation of College Republicans warned that if the 11 states are not given delegates, it would have to consider “all necessary actions to disaffiliate” from the CRNC.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the College Republican National Committee for comment Tuesday afternoon. It did not respond by the filing deadline of this article.

Samuel Kim is a commentary desk intern at the Washington Examiner and an active member in the Cornell University College Republicans.