February 10, 2012
by Al Bregar
About one and a half weeks ago the Iowa political world was rocked as Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn announced his resignation. Love him or hate him, he managed to bring the Iowa GOP into the 21st century. That resignation sparked a trio of Iowa Republicans to step up to the plate to vie for the honor of serving in a leadership capacity. I spoke with a member of the Republican Party of Iowa State Central Committee who informed me that it would be a close race between two of the candidates. But evidently some others do not agree with that assessment.
The following is the text of an email sent out by former Republican Party of Iowa Finance Director Darrell Kearney.
Sent: 2/10/2012 3:51:01 P.M. Central Standard Time
Subj: Conservative Breakfast Club
THE CONSERVATIVE CLUB OF DES MOINES
THE DES MOINES CONSERVATIVE BREAKFAST CLUB
“Dedicated to Defending the American Free Enterprise System and Defeating Obama’s plans for a Socialist America”
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
7:00am to 8:00am
Chuck Grassley Conference Center, Republican State Headquarters
621 E. 9th Street, Des Moines, Iowa
SPECIAL GUEST:
BILL SCHICKEL
STATE CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN PARTY OF IOWA
Bill Schickel assumed the Chairmanship of the Republican Party of Iowa following the recent resignation of Chairman Matt Strawn. Schickel will serve the remaining ten months of Strawn’s Chairmanship with the approval of the State Central Committee. The former state legislator, and Mayor of Mason City, has not made public his intention for running for State Chairman beyond 2012.
Bill Schickel is the General Manager of a KCMR radio station in Mason City. He was a well known television news anchor before venturing into Conservative Republican politics. Schickel served in the Iowa House for three terms. After retiring from the Legislature, he was elected to the Republican State Central Committee as Secretary and State Co-Chair. He has been endorsed by Governor Branstad and other Republican Legislative leaders.
Schickel will comment about the change in the State GOP leadership and his plans for the Iowa 2012 Republican Party Victory effort to defeat Barack Obama and maintain the majority control in the Iowa House, help Senate Republicans take back the Iowa Senate and winning additional Congressional seats.
Menu:
Scrambled Eggs and Ham, Southern Baked Hash Browns, Fresh Fruit, assorted breads, Coffee & Juice
$8.00
Please RSVP to Wes Peterson at wpeterson19@gmail.com, or call Darrell at 515-490-7306
-Darrell-
When this email was forwarded to me this afternoon I really didn’t see what the big deal about it was. I simply thought I missed the election of the new Chairman. It wasn’t until after I spoke with a member of the SCC that I was mistaken. The State Central Committee has not, let me repeat that for you, the Republican Party of Iowa State Central Committee has not elected a new Chairman. Furthermore the SCC member I spoke with this afternoon admitted that the SCC did allow Schickel to serve as INTERIM Chairman, they did not choose to allow him to serve out Chairman Strawn’s term.
While this email could quite simply be an error on the part of Mr. Kearny I find that hard to believe. And while I am not ready to assert that there is some nefarious plot to “steal” the Chairmanship I am not ready to completely discount it either.
The Next RPI Chairman, Is the Fix In?
February 10, 2012 by Al Bregar 4 Comments
The following is the text of an email sent out by former Republican Party of Iowa Finance Director Darrell Kearney.
When this email was forwarded to me this afternoon I really didn’t see what the big deal about it was. I simply thought I missed the election of the new Chairman. It wasn’t until after I spoke with a member of the SCC that I was mistaken. The State Central Committee has not, let me repeat that for you, the Republican Party of Iowa State Central Committee has not elected a new Chairman. Furthermore the SCC member I spoke with this afternoon admitted that the SCC did allow Schickel to serve as INTERIM Chairman, they did not choose to allow him to serve out Chairman Strawn’s term.
While this email could quite simply be an error on the part of Mr. Kearny I find that hard to believe. And while I am not ready to assert that there is some nefarious plot to “steal” the Chairmanship I am not ready to completely discount it either.
Filed under Commentary, Politics Tagged with Bill Schickel, Darrell Kearney, Iowa GOP, Iowa Republicans, Matt Strawn, Republican Party of Iowa, RPI Chairman, State Central Committee