The Alabama Republican Party on Saturday rejected a proposed rule that would ban members from running on the Republican ticket for seven years if they sued the party and lost.
The rule comes after former Republican candidate Ken McFeeters sued the party over the nomination of Tommy Tuberville as its gubernatorial candidate, alleging that Tuberville does not meet residency requirements to hold the office.
That lawsuit cost the party $50,000, officials said during the meeting Saturday. That is separate from a current suit McFeeters has against Tuberville in court and his intra-party contest of Tuberville’s election.
At a meeting where most of the proposals gained easy support, this proposed rule brought a sharp divide with members coming up to criticize or support the proposal.
“It’s unfortunate what occurred, but this is a conservative organization we need to be conservative not reactionary,” said member Ed Foy. “You could have somebody very diligently protecting the people of Alabama for very valid reasons, but if they didn’t prevail on every single count—they’re banished for seven years. That’s going to be a trampling of due process.”
Several members pointed to the language of the proposal going too far, so that losing on even one count against the party cold lead to a ban despite prevailing on other counts.
State Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, called McFeeters’ lawsuit “the most frivolous” he had ever seen, but noted the rule would not do anything to McFeeters as it would not have applied retroactively.
“The headline is frivolous lawsuit; you can lose a legitimate lawsuit,” Givhan said.
Still other members said they couldn’t think of a legitimate reason to sue the party.
“This party has rules,” said member Adam Williams. “The boy scouts had rules, the United Methodist Church had rules. People forced their way into those and changed those two organizations. Those rules need to be followed and should not be litigated in court.”
The vote to support closed primaries on the official party platform did not gain any controversy, thanks in part to recent efforts by Democratic Vice Chair Tabitha Isner encouraging Democrats to vote in upcoming Republican primaries for Congress while it remains lawful. The rule passed by a seemingly unanimous voice vote.
New ALGOP Chair Scott Stadthagen has made closing the primaries a key priority and legislation nearly passed last session that would have closed the primaries. It also has the backing of Tuberville, who will be governor during the next session if he beats Democratic nominee Doug Jones and escapes court scrutiny of his Constitutional eligibility.
