Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

N.H. GOP chairman quits

By Shira Schoenberg, Globe Correspondent
09/01/2011 7:16 PM

Concord, N.H. – Embattled New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Jack Kimball stepped down tonight, ending a bitter internal battle that pitted Tea Party activists against long-time Republicans.

“I have come to the conclusion that even during a vote if I were to win, and I know the odds are against that, it would be next to impossible for me to fulfill my obligations as chairman moving forward given what’s been against me,” Kimball said.

Kimball continued: “Tonight, sadly, very sadly because I’m not sure this is helping our party, I’m not going to become an obstacle in our party. I am tendering my resignation as state committee chairman of New Hampshire.”

Party Vice Chairman Wayne MacDonald, a state employee who has served as party vice chairman since 2003, will take over the party as chairman, until a new election is called in January 2013.

Kimball, a businessman and former Tea Party organizer, ran for governor in 2010 but lost the Republican primary. He was elected party chairman by beating a candidate favored by the party establishment.

Since then, Republican activists have blamed Kimball for poor management, lackluster fund-raising, and several special election defeats.

Republican New Hampshire Congressmen Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta, Senator Kelly Ayotte, state Senate President Peter Bragdon and state House Speaker William O’Brien had all called on Kimball to resign.

Kimball and his allies have portrayed the conflict as one between Tea Party activists and long-term “establishment” Republicans.

The Republican Party’s Executive Committee had scheduled a meeting for tonight to discuss Kimball’s tenure and hold a vote on whether to oust him. Kimball, however, resigned before the vote was taken.

More than 50 Kimball supporters, some holding “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, rallied outside the Executive Committee meeting.

“This is the establishment Republicans versus the Tea Party that helped get them into office,” said Jeffrey Diggins, a Tea Party activist from Fremont. “They rode us in, now they’re bringing us back to the barn.”

Steve Duprey, a Republican National Committeeman and former party chairman who had called on Kimball to step down, praised Kimball as an “honorable man.”

“I don’t think it was about ideology,” Duprey said. “It was about management.”

Shira Schoenberg can be reached at sschoenberg @globe.com

© 2011 NY Times Co.

http://www.boston.com/Boston/politicalintelligence/2011/09/gop-chairman-quits/qxKwoOGwvXWxbo47upl0CN/index.html [with comments]