Lewis County Republicans to Vote on Recall of Current Chairman

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After party leadership unsuccessfully called for his resignation last month, the Lewis County Republicans will vote in July on a possible recall of current party Chairman Brandon Svenson.

He is also the mayor of Winlock.

In a letter obtained by The Chronicle, party leaders called for a special meeting on July 11, in person at the Chehalis Eagles Hall located at 1993 S. Market Blvd. at 6:30 p.m. to perform an anonymous vote on whether to keep or remove the chairman.

The letter states that Svenson violated bylaws, “among other transgressions.”

The original request for his resignation came after Svenson, while wearing an official T-shirt from incumbent Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza’s re-election campaign, argued with sheriff candidate and Centralia Police Department Detective Sergeant Tracy Murphy from the podium before wadding up a letter written by Murphy and throwing it at him.

Four party board members signed the letter: State Committeeman Ron Averill, State Committeewoman Ruth Peterson, Secretary Sharra Finley and Treasurer Jeanne Hall.



The manner of the vote will depend on the number of eligible voters present — which are the party’s Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) — at the July 11 meeting. The party’s bylaws state that a quorum of PCOs is 40% of the total number of people elected to the positions.

If a quorum is present, the party will need just a simple majority in order to pass the recall.

If fewer than 40% of the PCOs are present, more than two-thirds of the PCOs present will need to vote in favor of the action by written ballot. Proxy votes are not accepted in this situation.

There are two requirements to meet during the meeting.

First, PCOs must consider whether to recall the chair. If the motion fails, then the meeting is over. If the motion passes, then they will consider a motion to elect a new chair.

Sign in for the meeting begins at 6 p.m.