State GOP: New St. Charles Caucus will be Fair, Transparent

The Missouri Republican Party announced it is calling for a new St. Charles County Caucus “after an earlier attempt last Saturday.”

The caucus will be at 7 p.m. April 10 at the St. Charles County Convention Center. That is 11 days before the Congressional District Conventions. The state convention is June 1-2 in Springfield.

“Since Saturday, we have reviewed our options to determine the best way to move forward while ensuring that the voice of St Charles has been heard. We have concluded that the only proper remedy for this situation is to schedule a new St Charles County Caucus,” said David Cole, Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, according to a news release.

“I want to make it clear to the people of St. Charles County that we will conduct this caucus in a fair, honest, and transparent manner,” Cole said.

Cole will open the meeting as temporary chairman, and the state GOP’s general counsel will serve as the parliamentarian.

Brent Stafford, a St. Charles County Republican Central Committee member and Ron Paul supporter, said the state GOP wanted to err on the side of caution regarding the turnout for the caucus, so they chose the St. Charles County Convention Center. The first caucus was at Francis Howell North High School.

Stafford, who was arrested after the meeting shut down, was the choice for Ron Paul and Mitt Romney supporters to be elected caucus chairman. He said that in a fairly run caucus, he would have been selected to chair the event.

Stafford said the St. Charles County organizers “either didn’t know the rules or knew them and decided not to follow them. But there’s no excuse for not knowing the rules because the state GOP sent out information on how to run the caucus.”

One Republican Central Committee Chair, Jon Bennett, told Patch that organizers used parliamentary procedure to give an opportunity to all candidate supporters to gain delegates. He said Paul and Romney supporters planned to split the delegates and shut out Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich supporters.

The caucus will be open to any registered voter in St Charles County who declares that he or she is a Republican. 

Cole said, “As we have made clear over the past week, we are committed to ensuring that the voice of St Charles County is fully represented throughout the process—all the way to the national convention.”