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Ex-Trumbull County GOP chairman refuses to go quietly
By Sarah Lehr
WARREN
Randy Law, the ousted chairman of the Trumbull County Republican Party, is refusing to go quietly.
County party leaders unanimously voted out Law earlier this month.
Jane Timken, chairwoman of the Ohio Republican Party, has since affirmed that action was legitimate.
This week, county GOP Central Committee members voted 45-0 to appoint businessman Kevin Wyndham as the new chairman. Wyndham was the only person to receive a nomination.
Law, however, maintains he is still chairman.
Wyndham sent Law a formal letter Wednesday, ordering him to surrender keys to the party office within three days and cease referring to himself as the chairman in the media. The letter states Law is no longer a member of the county GOP’s Executive Committee, despite Law’s assertions to the contrary.
Wyndham wrote, “You are entitled to the opinion that you were unjustly removed, but the facts are clear, justified and accepted by the State and local Republican Party, that you are no longer the chairman of the TCGOP.”
Additionally, the letter orders Law to cease and desist running a Facebook page with the name “Trumbull County Republican Party.”
“Frankly, we’re very worried someone would see that page and think it’s us – and it’s not us,” Wyndham said Thursday. “It’s a misrepresentation.”
Law said Thursday afternoon he had not seen the letter.
“I really have no interest in seeing it,” Law said of the letter. “It’s just more of the same bullying and buffoonery by liars and thugs.”
Law said he did not plan to meet Wyndham’s demands.
County party leaders have accused Law of mismanaging funds and running the party as a vanity project.
Because of Trumbull County’s status as a Rust Belt enclave with significant support for Republican Donald Trump, national news outlets featured Law periodically during Trump’s presidential campaign.
Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in Trumbull County by just over 6 percentage points. A Republican presidential candidate hadn’t won the county since Richard Nixon in 1972.
Despite the party’s victory in historically Democratic territory, Wyndham said the local organization is dispirited after 2 1/2 years under Law’s leadership.
“The Trumbull GOP is tired,” Wyndham said Tuesday after accepting his appointment. “It’s weary. It’s broke.”
County party leaders had attempted in January to oust Law, but the Ohio Republican Party later determined that action had not followed proper procedure.
Law served one term as state representative beginning in 2005. He ran unsuccessfully for state representative in 2014 and state senator in 2016.
“I’m not sure what Randy Law has to gain by continuing to scream about this,” Wyndham said. “It’s a distraction from what we want to accomplish. The party is ready to move on.”