-
County Commissioner Larry Harvey listens while Putnam County Republican Executive Committee Chairman Tom Williams speaks about whether to endorse political candidates. (Casmira Harrison/Palatka Daily News)
Division struck local members of the Republican Party on Wednesday evening as debate ensued around whether to endorse candidates running for office.
The Putnam County Republican Executive Committee called a meeting to discuss if its members would choose specific Republican candidates to back in the upcoming elections over others. Further discussion and a possible vote were ultimately pushed to July 21 while people at Wednesday’s meeting raised questions about there not being enough notice to vote this week.
“It is our job to pick a candidate,” said committee Chairman Tom Williams, who is running for the District 4 seat on the Board of County Commissioners to replace incumbent Larry Harvey.
Just before he reassured meeting attendees that personal feelings would not play a part in the vote, he told the crowd “things need to change,” as his campaign slogan states.
“Bold steps are needed to do so,” Williams said. “I’ve said many times there are a lot of people out here that are a hell of a lot (more) ready for this job than I am. … I would love to back a good person and go about my life in a different direction, but my desire to serve the county is as strong as yours.”
He said Republican voters need to know who to pick in this year’s Aug. 23 primary and Nov. 8 election, and the party should treat the primary as if it were the general election.
“If we do our job correctly, this process will proceed very smoothly,” Williams said about endorsing candidates. “Personal feelings should not and will not influence the outcome of this process, use only facts and policies.”
However, other Putnam County Republicans, like Harvey, raised concerns.
Williams read comments from Harvey in which he addressed issues about the validity of endorsements. Although Williams did not mention Harvey’s name, Harvey confirmed they were his comments.
Harvey also told the executive committee the division among the party is getting bad, causing a committee member to laugh while he was speaking.
Fellow Commissioner Paul Adamczyk is also on the Republican Executive Committee and has posted on Facebook telling people to vote for Williams rather than Harvey.
Harvey was not the only person Wednesday who spoke out against endorsements. Rhonda Drackett Williams, president of the Putnam Republican Club of Putnam County, which is different from the executive committee, also voiced concerns.
“Let me just tell you that I have heard from many people in the Republican club that they are against this REC endorsing any candidate. It doesn’t matter who they are,” said Drackett Williams, who in 2020 ran for the District 3 seat on the Board of County Commissioners. “That endorsement ends up happening by a handful of people.”
She said it would only take a majority vote, or about 17 votes, for the candidate endorsements to be solidified.
“Then for that Republican candidate to be given publicity, money, priority over the other candidate and not allowing the Republicans in this county to choose their own (candidate) … that’s my concern,” Drackett Williams said. “That’s my issue.”
While committee Secretary Sarah Adamczyk – Paul Adamczyk’s wife – reminded Drackett Williams that the committee may not even choose to endorse a candidate, Drackett Williams also raised concerns that there have not even been any candidate forums.
The first forum for county commission candidates will be 6 p.m. Monday at the Bostwick Community Center, 125 Tillman St.
Sarah Adamczyk said the Republican Executive Committee and the Republican Club, if its members so choose, are each allowed to do their own thing. She also accused Drackett Williams of causing drama ever since she started attending the meetings and said people are sick of hearing Drackett Williams talk down about the executive committee.
“I have had it,” Sarah Adamczyk said. “You want to act like a child? I will lecture you like a child.”
Republican candidates are invited back to the July 21 meeting to vie for a chance to be endorsed by the executive committee.
Copyright Palatka Daily News 2022 - all rights reserved.