Politics & Government

Three Nominated to Replace Bustos, New Rule Approved

The Charleston County Republican Party approved a rule barring party officers from running for non-partisan offices and nominated three men to fill the chairman's seat vacated Monday by Joe Bustos

During a raucous meeting, the Charleston County Republican Party Executive Committee meeting narrowly approved a new rule barring party officers from running in non-partisan races and nominated three people to fill its newly open chairman position Monday night.

The surprise resignation of now former Chairman Joe Bustos at noon Monday loomed over the proceedings. Party member Dr. Mark Hartley brought forward an amendment to the party's rules that adds a provision barring party officers from running in contested non-partisan elections.

The county party does not have its own set of established rules and has been using state and national party rules as a template. Hartley's proposal added a new section to Rule 15 (see attached pdf for the specific language), which specifies how and when party officers can run for elected office, that prohibits those officers from seeking a non-partisan elected office when another candidate has also filed to run for that office.

Find out what's happening in Charlestonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In presenting the rule to the Executive Committee Hartley began by acknowledging it addressed the situation presented by former Chair Bustos, who is running for mayor of Mount Pleasant, and said the fact that he resigned doesn't negate the need for the rule to prevent a similar situation from happening again in the future.

"This is not about our former chairman," he said. "It is about having a chairman that is focused full-time on this body."

Find out what's happening in Charlestonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Executive Committee approved the new rule 35 to 25 after a boisterous debate among party members present.

Several people picked up Hartley's line of argument saying they want party officers to focus full-time on getting as many Republicans elected as possible, and felt officers campaigning for a seat themselves would not be able to devote their full attention to the county party's needs.

Not everyone agreed however. Melanie Farmer took umbrage with the notion that a person would not be able to carry out the duties of a party officer while running for office.

"Don't limit me based on someone else's limitations," she said.

Former Chairman Sam McConnell also came out against the proposed rule.

"If they were running against a Democrat it wouldn't be a problem, it's only a problem if they're running against another Republican" McConnell said. "I think it's ridiculous."

Following the adoption of the new rule the party also nominated three people for the newly open chairman's position. Nominees include acting Chair John Stienberger, Jonathan Hoffman and Mark Smith.

Another raucous debate erupted when one member moved to close the nominations after only two names had been submitted. Initially that motion was ignored as Smith was nominated, but his nomination was eventually pulled back and a vote taken on closing the nominations with only Stienberger and Hoffman in the running. That motion ultimately failed and Smith's name was added to the mix.

The nominating process was closed at the meeting and a vote is scheduled for the party's next meeting, Monday, July 8. Each of the nominees will speak to the members present at that meeting prior to the vote.

A far less contentious matter was adopting a rule establishing a quorum at 25 voting members which passed nearly unanimously earlier in the meeting.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Charleston