North Carolina GOP elects first black chairman
BY GARY D. ROBERTSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH ? The
North Carolina Republican
Party elected its first black
chairman Saturday, June 6,
in an upset victory over the
candidate backed by Gov.
Pat McCrory and other top
leaders in the GOP estab
lishment.
Hasan Harnett of
Harrisburg won the vote of
Republican activists at the
state GOP convention over
Craig Collins of Gastonia.
No vote was announced
although the roll call from
North Carolina's 100 coun
ties showed Harnett receiv
ing 700 votes to 562 for
Collins before Collins
asked delegates from the
convention floor to elect
Harnett to a two-year term.
"I'm humbled by the
win, and it speaks volumes
to the delegates who have
made their voices be made
known," Harnett said in an
interview after the vote. As
for whether his victory will
help broaden the party's
base to more black voters,
he added: "I think it's a
good start and there's much
more work to be done."
Collins had been
endorsed by McCrory, U.S.
Sens. Richard Burr and
Thorn Tillis and the top
leaders at the General
Assembly: Senate leader
Phil Berger and House
Speaker Tim Moore.
Some delegates were
unhappy with what they
considered to be top lead
ers trying to predetermine
the race's outcome.
Endorsements for Collins,
a regional party leader,
came within hours of
departing Chairman Claude
Pope announcing his deci
sion not to seek a second
term.
"The whole idea of this
massive intervention in the
leadership by the powers
that be was said Vernon
Robinson, a Forsyth
County delegate and for
mer candidate for statewide
office who is black. ""It
shows (there are) much
more activists and conser
vative delegates than there
have been in the past."
Harnett, a campaign
manager for a 2014 con
gressional candidate and
minority outreach director
for the state GOP, had been
in the race weeks before
Pope's announcement. He
said he made 4,000 person
al phone calls with dele
gates to the convention
since mid-April.
Harnett, 39, will serve
at a time when Republicans
control both the legislature
and governor's office for
the first time in more than
"I'm humbled by the win, and it
speaks volumes to the delegates
who have made their voices be
made."
- Hasan Harnett
140 years. The 2016 elec
tion will feature the presi
dential race, along with re
election bids by McCrory
and Burr.
"We need a bold, rein
vigorated Republican Party
who listens to grassroots,"
Harnett said during his
nomination speech, in
which he arrived in the del
egate hall in Raleigh with a
small marching band drum
line banging out a beat to
rev up the crowd.
"Together, we will win in
2016 because teamwork "
McCrory said in a state
ment Saturday night that he
had spoken with Harnett
"forward to working with
him to grow our party and "
Rep. David Lewis, R
Harnett, who officially
nominated Collins, said he
doesn't believe Harnett's
victory is a repudiation of
Republican standard-bear
ers. He pointed out stand
ing ovations at the conven
tion for McCrory as well as
Tillis, who also spoke.
Usually about 25 per
cent of the delegates to the
biennial convention are
associated with the libertar
ian-leaning Republican
Liberty Caucus, Lewis
said, and this time, "they
were behind Hasan" and
helped him win.
"Certainly, Hasan will
Lewis said."
Harnett is the state's
first black chairman,
according to party
Executive Director Todd
Poole, who said he had
completed a history of state
GOP chairmen and con
ventions. The state party
was founded officially in
1867 by black and white
residents.
Robinson, who runs a
super PAC backing Ben
Carson for president, said
he believes Harnett's victo
ry will help expand the
"opportunity to broaden
the electoral base in the
GOP."
I
K. n <!?'. lilii'J IL 'Flft fjfJfl
^WSftC ?Y MR. BILS|RODUCTIONS ? CONCESSIQHn
^^EIZES ? ARCADE GAMES ? DANCE CONTEJ^^^
FASHION- YOUR LIFESTYLE!
V OPEN TO 1
MIDDLE AND
HIGH SCHOOL
L STUDENTS i