Wednesday evening’s Belknap County Republican caucus resulted in a complete and total turnover of the GOP state committee. Following on a disastrous election season for Chairman Norm Silber’s leadership team of the Belknap County Republican Committee (BCRC), they stood by helplessly as the group of party Delegates and candidates elected in the September primaries passed over their chosen slate.

Prior to the start of the meeting, caucus voters were provided a list of nineteen persons to consider as official members of the NHGOP State Committee. Many had been contacted ahead of time and were in agreement that the Belknap County Republican Committee had lost its way and is in need of new leadership with a fresh start. They are all well aware that the last two years under the current BCRC team has brought turmoil, chaos, frustration for hardworking potential members, and an exodus of many good, long-time Republicans, and were ready to unite in an effort to bring an end to the disaster. Unite, they did.

The meeting began promptly at 6PM, and was conducted by the NHGOP’s Elliot Gault and his team in an open and orderly fashion. The full list of nominees was put out. It included, without specifying the faction affiliation: some nominated at last month’s BCRC meeting, the slate offered by the current leadership team, the slate put forth by those working for change, and several write-ins. All names (other than two write-ins) were listed on a prepared ballot with the instruction to pick ONLY nineteen candidates who would become the State Committee members. After the first round, there was a four-way tie for the nineteenth position, which resulted in a runoff vote for that final slot.

When the dust settled, the nineteen people listed on the prepared voter guide all won. It was a total victory for those wanting change and to bring back party unity.

For good Republicans wanting the current BCRC leadership and it’s raging dumpster fire EXTINGUISHED, last night was the night. And what a night it was! The nineteen Belknap County State Committee members have the ultimate oversight and authority over the BCRC. They have been given a mandate. The good news is that they understand what that is.

One may think that this leads to one Republican faction taking power over another, but quite the contrary. After the votes were settled and the winners apparent, many voices throughout those who were celebrating were also announcing the absolute necessity to include those who lost in the discussion going forward. Though the previous leadership squelched dissent, banned upstanding membership, and put a halt to accepting any of the new applications they so flagrantly and negligently chose to withhold to further their campaign for an easy county election, the folks who spent so much time working to create a unified force to confront them still want them to continue to join in and contribute to a new Republican dawn in Belknap County.

The work begins now, to pick the next round of leadership in our Belknap County Republican Committee. There are many doers up for this task.