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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Republican group warns of takeover by extremists

Associated Press

KALISPELL – A Flathead Valley Republican group has distributed a letter warning that “our local Republican Party structure may be on the verge of capture by local extremists.”

That would make “a successful party effort in the next election cycle more problematic,” Republicans for the Flathead said in the letter sent to members last month.

Republicans for the Flathead formed during the last campaign season to fight what member Paul Williams calls the “ultraconservatism” of the Republican Assembly. Active in 47 states, assemblies consist of people who have questioned, among other things, the modern separation of church and state.

In recent years, Williams told the Missoulian, candidates active in the Republican Assembly have positioned themselves politically in the Flathead Valley.

“At this point, the strength of our local party is at stake, and divisiveness will not foster future success,” Republicans for the Flathead wrote.

“I think they’re mistaken in their views,” said Denise Cofer, a Republican Assembly member and former Flathead coordinator for the Christian Coalition. She ran for the Flathead County Commission last year and lost narrowly to a Democrat.

Moderate Republicans such as Williams campaigned against Cofer and backed the Democrat. Cofer scoffs at their stated concern about future GOP elections, saying, “These are the guys who supported a Democrat, right?”

She said the “Republican Assembly works to elect Republican candidates, pure and simple.”

Williams and others find that Assembly members define “Republican” too narrowly, excluding people who might agree with the party platform in general but disagree on matters such as gay marriage or abortion. Imposing too strong a litmus test costs Republicans some standing with the mainstream, he said. In the last election the Assembly won several uncontested precinct committee seats, the official party-boss positions that drive the Republican machine here. Williams is uneasy with the speed at which the Assembly has appointed people to various empty positions, action he sees as an attempt to “stack the deck” before the May 12 convention of area Republicans.

With a largely appointed voting majority, he said, Assembly members will be in a position to elect their favorites to executive posts, effectively taking over the party. In the letter, Republicans for the Flathead warned that “ultraconservatives” seem poised to “throw out all the long-serving local party officers, loyal mainstream Republicans, and substitute extremist Assembly members.”