Early Tuesday evening the Republican chairs of Ohio’s seven largest counties sent Ohio GOP State Chair Kevin DeWine an email asking him to resign effective immediately.
Included on the signatory line of the email, which was sent to Red Alert Politics by an ally of Ohio Governor John Kasich, were: Cuyahoga County Chair Rob Frost, Franklin County Chair Doug Preisse, Hamilton County Chair Alex Triantafilou, Lucas County Chair Jon Stainbrook, Mahoning County Chair Mark Munroe, Montgomery County Chair Greg Gantt and Summit County Chair Alex Arshinkoff.
In the email sent to DeWine by Frost, the Cuyahoga County chair writes that:
Frost is likely referring to claims from the state’s Governor and top operatives that DeWine purposely put politics over party during the 2010 elections by choosing not to make the Governor’s race a priority. It is generally known within Republican political circles in Ohio that Kasich and DeWine have not gotten along for years. When Kasich took office he asked DeWine to resign as chair; DeWine declined.
Sunday DeWine announced he would not run for reelection for state chair at the end of his term next January in an attempt to avoid a coup at an upcoming state central committee, where allies of Governor planned to force a vote of no confidence in his chairmanship.
However, Kasich and other influential members of the Republican Party,including Franklin County Chair Doug Preisse, who was also listed as a signatory on today’s email, previously told Red Alert Politics that “it made no sense” for DeWine to stay in office after openly admitting the power struggle was consuming the party.
In the email asking DeWine to resign Frost said as much, stating that:
He also pointed out that if it comes to a vote before the state committee, DeWine would likely lose, so it would be better for him to resign now. Sources close to Governor Kasich told Red Alert Politics after the March 6 primary in Ohio, in which new members of the state central committee were elected, they are now certain they have enough votes to remove DeWine from office at the next state central committee meeting on April 13.
Undeterred, DeWine refused to leave his post as party chair, leading to this evening’s email. Read the full text of the email here.
Criticism of DeWine run far and wide among top Ohio operatives, including his relationship with controversial Ohio political operative and Mitt Romney consultant Brett Buerck, who has a long and sordid past in Ohio politics, including charges of political racketeering. Buerck was never convicted, but that fact matters little to a number of influential operatives within the Ohio Republican Party, six of which privately discussed their intense disdain for Buerck off-the-record with Red Alert Politics.
Buerck pointed the finger back at those who would berate him, saying they were just a bunch of ‘whiners’ and Gingrich and Santorum supporters who were jealous of his and Governor Romney’s success in Ohio.
At the time of this report the author of today’s email, Cuyahoga County Chair Rob Frost, was unavailable to comment on the specific events that lead to this email.
