There’s been a lot of talk about a contested Republican convention in Cleveland this summer. But there may be one closer to home.
That would be in May, when North Carolina Republicans hold their state convention in Greensboro.
And Hasan Harnett expects to be at the podium.
Harnett has been under fire since the state party’s Central Committee voted Sunday to censure him. Its resolution of no confidence included a litany of eight offenses “deemed harmful to the North Carolina Republican Party.”
Among other things, they included a dispute over the cost of attending the state convention.
Now, less than a year after Harnett was elected the state party’s first African-American chairman with support from grass-roots activists, some party leaders are trying to oust him before the convention.
But Harnett plans to stay.
“I am the elected chairman,” he said Tuesday. “And despite holding back tears and despite having no access to my emails … and despite being hit by baseless attacks and unrelenting assaults, I was elected to lead and serve.
“And at this time, the chairman still calls for unity. And the chairman will still lead the party accordingly.”
The conflict between Harnett and other officials has split the state party, or at least the activists who pay attention to these kind of things.
Efforts by party officials to force out the chairman have already begun.