Learn the Rules for GOP Reorganization for Your County
As outlined in the main page for the Precinct Committeeman Project in Tennessee, the process is similar across all Tennessee counties; but each county has their own set of rules for how their reorganization is structured, who can attend, who can vote at reorganizaton and who can be a candidate for an executive committee position.
Here is a list of everything that you need to find out ahead of time so that you will be fully prepared for reorganization:
The Basics
- Where and when – this may seem basic, but reorganization is often held at a different location and on a different schedule than the usual monthly party meeting. Also, some counties hold reorganization over a two day period where delegates are chosen the first day and votes are actually cast on the second day.
- Know who can attend – generally anyone can attend, but some counties ask that people pre-register so that they have a count ahead of time.
- Know who is eligible to be a delegate – there are generally 2 requirements to be a delegate during reorganization:
- Must be a registered voter in the county
- Must be a “verified Republican.” This is part of the process since TN voters do not register with a politcal party. It is generally determined by having voted in 3 of the last 4 Republican primaries.
- Note: if you do not meet this requirement, contact your county GOP leadership to determine if there are alernate ways that you can establish that you are a verified Replublican, such as membership in other Republican organizations or signing a form verifying that you are a Republican.
- Tip: although it’s not required, becoming a paid member of your local GOP is a good start towards establishing yourself as a Republican.
Preparing to Replace Your County GOP Executive Committee
Long before reorganization you should be attending your local GOP meetings so that you can evaluate the performance of the current board members as well as meeting people who may be interested in running for an executive committee seat or in finding people to replace current executive committee members. Generally, if someone from the executive committee will be stepping down, the party has a preferred candidate to run for that position. If you want to replace a current committee member or have someone run against the party’s preferred candidate, you will need to be prepared to make sure that you have enough votes in favor of your preferred candidates from each precinct.
Because the you need to get enough votes for your candidate across multiple precincts, it can require months of planning to be fully prepared to vote in new board members at reorganization. The steps that you need to take ahead of time are:
- Find out how many voting precincts are in you county. You can find this on your county’s election website.
- Start gathering a list of people who will attend reorganization and find out which precinct they belong to. It’s fine to have many people per precinct because it will increase your odds of having 2 of your people selected as precinct captains, but make sure that in your planning you calculate potential votes keeping in mind that each precinct only gets two votes.
- Educate the people who will be attending about how the delegate and precinct captain process works. People need to first make sure that they sign up as delegates when they are seated with their precinct and then they need to be prepared to step up to be one of the two precinct captains (some counties use different terminology) who will actually get to vote for the executive board.
- Understand all the qualifications that must be met to be an executive board member. It is likely that the only qualifications will be to meet the definition of a “verified republican” but be familiar with the factors that can quality or disqualify someone to serve on the executive board to be fully prepared.
- Understand the procedure for declaring an intention to run for a board position. Some conventions allow for nominations from the floor, while some require that this intention be put in writing ahead of time. Many counties also have additional requirements for candidates who wish to be party chair which do not apply to the other seats on the executive board.
Final Thoughts
Depending on how many people regularly attend party events and how many of them are content with the status quo, it can be difficult to get new members onto a county executive committee the first time around. Sometimes the rules of reorganization are clearly stated and reorganization will proceed exactly as it is stated in the rules. There are some counties where the rules are not written as clearly and the process that actually takes place may be much more difficult to navigate than you anticipated. If you aren’t successful the first time around, just remember that the process will take place again in another two years. Once you see the process in action, you will be fully prepared for the next reorganization.