Schifanelli Disqualified From MDGOP Chair Race

Slate failed to file nomination paperwork in a timely manner

Gordana Schifanelli and her entire slate has been disqualified from the race for Maryland Republican Party leadership.

The Convention Nominating Committee released the following:

On behalf of the Nominating Committee:

The Nominating Committee met on Sunday, Nov. 20th, 2022 at 7 pm and reviewed 15 proposed nominations nine nominations were approved by a unanimous vote of the committee.

The list of accepted nominations are:

Chair:
Tim Fazenbaker
Nicole Harris

1st Vice Chair:
James Ashburn
Nicole Bennett

2nd Vice Chair:
Heath Barnes
Alfred Mendelson

3rd Vice Chair:
Linda Flint
Dwight Patel

Secretary:
Mark Uncapher

The slate was disqualified for not submitting their nominating paperwork in a timely manner.

In a follow-up email, Maryland Republican Chairman Dirk Haire released following:

It has come to my attention that some individuals failed to file their nominations paperwork by the deadline of 5 pm November 9th, as set forth in the Convention Packet which was sent to all central committee members on October 3, 2022, October 10, 2022 and a reminder sent on October 17, 2022. The State Party staff provides all nomination information received – timely or not – to the Nominations Committee. The Nominations Committee then meets, which it did on November 20, 2022, and decides if a late nomination has provided a good reason for filing late. If a good reason is not provided, then based on past practice over decades and hundreds of nominations, the Nominations Committee rejects the late nominations.

Section 9.1(g) of the Bylaws provides the authority for the Nominations Committee. It does not include a specific deadline for submitting nominations for the Nominations Committee review. That is certainly a change to the Bylaws that the State Central Committee could make at a future convention. I assume the reason that the Bylaws have not been changed in that regard is that, as I mentioned, for decades, the deadline has been established in the Convention Packet, which everyone receives with ample notice, meaning that the deadline doesn’t “sneak up” on anyone. The obvious reason for even setting a deadline is that we have to have some kind of cut-off so that the Nominations Committee can do their work in advance of the Convention and everyone can know sufficiently in advance who the nominees are and so that the nominees are able to campaign.

Moreover, if someone fails to submit their nomination paperwork by the deadline, they can still be nominated from the floor, per our Bylaws, which allows for floor nominations if 2/3s of the state central committee votes to open floor nominations. As a result, there is still an ability for nominations to come from the floor if they are able to convince 2/3s of the state central committee colleagues that even though the Nominations Committee didn’t believe their tardy submission was for good reason, they can convince the overall state central committee otherwise by a super majority.

I want to be abundantly clear that this process is discretionary in the judgement of the Nominations Committee members. There is no bylaws mandate that establishes the cut-off date. There is also no legal ability for someone who files late to force themselves into the Nominations Committee report. You all can change that, if you wish, at a future convention.

However, for purposes of this particular convention, we have followed the same process as we have for decades, and the Nominations Committee has done their work and provided their reporting on who is eligible and timely filed.

If individuals who filed untimely nominations paperwork wish to be considered for certain officer positions, I encourage them to include in their campaign efforts the reason why they failed to file timely, and work to convince state central committee members that their oversight was for good reason, notwithstanding the 37 days notice all interested individuals had to submit their paperwork.

Dirk Haire
Chairman
Maryland Republican Party