North Carolina GOP shifts to mostly white male leadership
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Republican Party elected a new chairman and other officers at a party convention over the weekend.
The GOP’s first African American chairman, Michele Nix, did not seek reelection. She was replaced by Michael Whatley, who narrowly defeated a candidate who had questioned Nix’s support for President Donald Trump.
Whatley, who had served as the party’s vice chairman, ran with the backing of Trump and outgoing U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, now the White House chief of staff. The delegate vote Saturday also elected four regional vice chairs, a secretary and a treasurer.
Whatley’s election marked a return to the party’s traditional leadership: white men. Nix had been elected two years ago with other women in the top leadership posts. Democrats have blamed the GOP for promoting a lack of diversity.
The weekend also saw the reelection of Wayne King as state party vice chairman and the election of Miriam Chu as secretary. Bryan King was elected treasurer.
The meeting followed a successful 2018 election cycle for the GOP in North Carolina. The party retained control of the General Assembly, saw the re-election of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis and took the 9th U.S. House District seat from Democrats.
But the district could see a special election after the state elections board found evidence last week that a political operative working for Republican candidate Mark Harris in the district’s 2018 congressional race had collected and potentially altered mail-in ballots. Harris, who had led after November’s unofficial vote count, abruptly dropped his bid for the seat.