Johnson wins state GOP Vice Chair election

Late-breaking news over a domestic-violence conviction — and the ensuing fracas within the GOP — didn’t stop Buncombe County Republican Party Chair Timothy Johnson from sweeping to victory in the election for vice chair of the state party on Saturday.

Johnson defeated incumbent Vice Chair David Sawyer by a vote of 731 to 556 among the more than 1,600 delegates assembled in Raleigh. He is the first African-American to hold the position. In his platform, Johnson has promised to expand the party by pursuing younger voters, Hispanics and African-Americans while training new volunteers to be more tech savvy.

After WLOS TV news reported on Johnson’s 1996 domestic-violence conviction just days before the party convention, he issued a statement asserting that the issue was behind him, with an endorsement from his ex-wife attached. Meanwhile 11th Congressional District Chair Steve Duncan criticized Johnson and said that party members felt like they were deceived. However, other party members leapt to his defense and on Saturday the Carolina Stompers conservative activist group called for an investigation into the financial management of the 11th District GOP committee.

— David Forbes, staff writer

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21 thoughts on “Johnson wins state GOP Vice Chair election

  1. LOKEL

    To quote Oprah:

    “If he hit once, he’ll hit you again.”

    Seriously though, is ANYONE, surprised that the “GOP” would elect a admitted criminal as their leader?

  2. DonYelton

    The fight left some bleeding, just think what can happen when we scab over and attack the power structure which is mainly Democrats and a few rinos that live and breath at the pleasure of the Democrats. Hang on it, is going to get rough for those that scream politics because the truth will win out.

    Tim Won in spite of the attempts by Steve Duncan to attack Tim.

  3. travelah

    Obama is a former admitted doper …. is he qualified to be President? If every current elected official in the US was disqualified because of a previous conviction there would be a LOT of vacancies in both Parties.

  4. Chad Nesbitt

    Thank you David Forbes! This is why I love the Mountain Xpress.

    Dear Mountain Xpress,

    Did you know that you guys are the only news media outlet in the state that has mentioned that Dr. Tim Johnson is the 1st African American to hold his new position as Vice Chairman fo the NC State Republican Party. He is second in line to the Chairman. That’s a very big deal.

    What’s even a bigger deal is that know one except the Mountain Xpress will acknowledge that.

    This is a perfect example of why we conservatives always talk about media bias.

    Another good example of media bias is Bill Fishburns front page article in the Asheville Tribune. It’s a prime example of a reporter using a media outlet to try to destroy someone.

    If you are an opinion writer and you want to go after someone with your opinion. Go ahead. That’s your opinion. (Just get your facts straight.)

    But if you are a reporter like Fishburn, you are expected to report. Not stress your opinion in your report. Fox News does this and so does MSNBC. Drives me crazy.

    “The Xpress needs to go national.” They would run circles around the big news outlets.

    God Bless you guys at the Moutain Xpress for fair reporting! Thank You.

  5. John Smolkin

    Well, Barney Frank allowed his husband to run a call-boy ring out of his Washington condo. Do you suppose once a pimp, always a pimp? I think the new republican chairman deserves at least the same slack we gave Barney. Or do republicans have to answer to a double standard? Personally, I am proud that the national chairman of the republican party is an African American. And our local chairman is as well.

  6. homer

    Is this news that the GOP base would elect someone involved with domestic violence…. As long as your in church on sunday or say god bless you(Chad uses that above i believe) after hitting your wife everything is ok.. what a joke.

  7. John Smolkin

    Homer (where’s Jethro?), my point is that there is a double standard. Democrats and republicans are held to different standards. On the one hand, you have republicans, who are expected to somehow be perfect. How dare they believe in God, go to church on Sunday, yet have human frailties to deal with like everyone else! A church is a place for people to reform their lives along Christian ideals. Not a museum for saints. By the way, God bless you too!

    Democrats, on the other hand, are allowed all kinds of deviancies. Bill Clinton was convicted of a felony, lying in court. Permanently barred from practicing law in front of the US Supreme Court. Only the 2nd US president to have been impeached. Yet Clinton has been treated by his party, and the lapdog liberal biased mainstream media, as if he has done nothing wrong. Yet school children cannot be told the exact details of what the president lied about because of the oral sex involved.

    In addition to the scandal with MA Rep Barney Frank, discussed above, you have MA Sen Ted Kennedy. Teddie actually got away with murder. I guess it really pays to have a lot of family political influence in MA. Ted Kennedy was out driving drunk after a party and an evening spent with his “secretary”. Ted ran off the road into a body of water. He swam to safety and left his consort to drown. An inquiry into the accident showed that Mary Jo was alive for up to 4 hours in that car, gasping for air to the end. If Teddie was too cowardly to save her, like most men would have done automatically, then he at least could have called 911 after he had reached safety.

    Double standard you see.

  8. Recognizing someone based on the color of their skin is racist, whether for good or ill.

    Ethnic Identity politics is wrong. Politics should be about ideology, not race or ethnicity.

    Tim has a good story about redemption and overcoming past mistakes. I was glad to see him credit God the glory for his success, and look forward to seeing him bring more social conservatives into active participation in the party.

    The small-minded people among us do not understand the concept of forgiveness, so they will continue to try to bring up his past failings, and I hope he (and his friends) use those reminders to credit God for the turn around in his life.

  9. Ken Hanke

    Why would conviction matter when he readily admits it?

    Why would you use the word “conviction” except that it carries much more negative weight?

  10. Chad Nesbitt

    Thunder Pig Said – <>Tim has a good story about redemption and overcoming past mistakes. I was glad to see him credit God the glory for his success, and look forward to seeing him bring more social conservatives into active participation in the party.<>

    Thank you TP.

  11. travelah

    Hanke, I didn’t bring the word conviction into the discussion regarding Obama. I responded to that introduction.

  12. Ken Hanke

    Hanke, I didn’t bring the word conviction into the discussion regarding Obama.

    You mean to say that’s not what you’re trying to convey in this post:

    Obama is a former admitted doper …. is he qualified to be President? If every current elected official in the US was disqualified because of a previous conviction there would be a LOT of vacancies in both Parties.

  13. travelah

    No it isn’t. Is reading comprehension a weakness with you? My objection is that past sins, convicted or otherwise should not be grounds for prejudice against the individual (in most cases). That applies to Obama, an admitted doper and Johnson, convicted for battery, both many years ago.

  14. Ken Hanke

    Is reading comprehension a weakness with you?

    Not in the least, but I can spot a stacked deck statement when I see one.

  15. Piffy!

    What’s a ‘doper’? Is it as bad as beating your wife and child, lying about your education, and potentially lying about your military service?

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