The Republican Party of Kentucky told leaders of the Campbell County GOP that the attempted removal of its chair and treasurer wouldn’t stand because the members who called the meeting didn’t have the authority to do so.
In an email to party leaders, the party Director of Local Development Elizabeth “Hunter” Whitaker said the vote to remove party leaders on April 13 wouldn’t stand.
“There have been several disputes regarding the meeting minutes submitted, as well as the legitimacy of the meeting held on April 13, 2023,” Whitaker writes. “After review by appropriate parties, it was determined that per RPK Rules 4.02 and 4.03, only the committee chairman has the authority to issue a meeting call. Because the chairman did not call the meeting held on April 13, nor did the chairman conduct the meeting, the business carried out is invalid and cannot be filed with the state party as submitted.”
The Campbell County Republican Party voted by secret ballot to remove Chairman Anna Zinkhon and Treasurer Stephen Cunningham during its special meeting.
The party needed 2/3 of their quorum, or 2/3 of the 33 precinct captains who attended the meeting, to vote to oust the pair. Of the 33 that voted, all voted “yes” to oust Cunningham, and all 33 voted “yes” to remove Zinkhon.
But according to Zinkhon, the meetings held on March 2 and April 13 were invalid and void.
The meeting was held to allow the petitioners to lay out their case against the chair and treasurer and give Zinkhon and Cunningham a chance to speak; but neither Zinkhon nor Cunningham attended the meeting. Vice Chair David Fischer was also absent.
According to precinct captains at the meeting, their votes would now go to the Republican Party of Kentucky, which had 10 days to make the removals official. Zinkhon said otherwise.
Zinkhon said that the group attempting to get rid of her and Cunninhamg improperly interpreted RPK’s rules that say “special meetings may be called by the county chairman or on petition in writing signed by five (5) members of the County Committee and transmitted to the County Chairman.”
“They went by what they saw as the rules within RPK, but they left out the overlay that the rules also include proper parliamentary procedure, which is Robert’s Rules of Order,” Zinkhon said.
But the group didn’t petition Zinkhon, she said. Instead, the group just put the information out to the public.Â
“If we didn’t have these guidelines to operate by, what stops anybody from taking over every organization, every corporation, everything,” Zinkhon said. “The chairman is selected by the group.”
The attempted removal stemmed from disagreements within the party over the group’s winter mixer that was ultimately canceled.Â
Zinkhon said she now hopes to move forward, but it is still being determined how they’ll do that with the current members who attempted to vote her out still involved with the county party.
“We as an organization need to figure out how we’re going to handle the people that we’re kind of labeling ‘insurrectionists’ for lack of a better term,” Zinkhon said.