The Runback: The Rules Apply to Everybody

Nicolee Ambrose has always thought of herself as a special snowflake. That doesn't mean she gets to ignore governing documents.

May 2, 2022

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Sports

NFL Draft Nuggets: Come check out these nuggs!
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Food

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The Monday Thought

Two weeks ago I wrote about how a vacancy was created in the office of Maryland Republican National Commiteewoman when Nicolee Ambrose filed to run for Congress.

One person who didn’t get the memo? Nicolee Ambrose.

*“Whoa, those rules don’t apply to me!” Nicolee Ambrose, probably*

Last weekend at the most recent Maryland Federation of Republican Women Board Meeting, Ambrose spoke to the crowd. When questioned about The Duckpin story and her status as National Committeewoman, Ambrose told the assembled crowd that she in fact did not have to resign because the Republican National Committee rules superseded the Maryland State Republican Party Bylaws.

This was a complete lie.

The rules of the Republican National Committee, as adopted at the 2020 Republican National Convention and last amended on August 13, 2021 are silent on the issue. Arguably, the actionable section would be Rule 2, Section a, paragraph 1:

(1) Where the rules adopted by a state Republican Party provide a method of election of the national committeeman and the national committeewoman, they shall be elected pursuant to such method.

You can interpret this in two ways; Rule 2(a)(1) applies to this situation or it doesn’t. But in either scenario, this bumps the qualification back down to the Maryland Republican Party bylaws.

As I wrote two weeks ago, Article V, Section 5.5.a.3 of the Maryland Republican Party Bylaws states:

No individual may either hold or seek elected public office while serving as an officer of the Party. An individual is considered to be seeking office when he/she has filed a Certificate of Candidacy with the State or County Board of Elections or has applied to fill a vacancy in an elected office.

The party's officers to which the section applies include the Party Chairman, Party 1st Vice Chairman, Party 2nd Vice Chairman, Party 3rd Vice Chairman, Party Secretary, Party Treasurer, National Committeeman, and National Committeewoman.

The bottom line remains that Ambrose cannot be a candidate for office and the National Committeewoman, per the MDGOP bylaws. It’s against the rules, as it should be.

While Ambrose has always thought of herself as a special snowflake and has been convinced of her own greatness, she is not exempt from the rules just because she thinks she ought to be. Nor is this the first time she thinks the rules don’t apply to her.

The Maryland Republican Party Spring Convention is this weekend in Ocean City. The State Central Committee needs to end this charade, declare the seat to be vacant, and move quickly forward with electing a replacement this weekend. The state party cannot be held hostage by somebody who thinks the rules do not apply to them at such a critical time in the election cycle.

If Ambrose refuses to do the right thing and leave the easy way, the party is duty-bound to fix this the hard way.