The Relationship between County and State Central Committees
Is the relationship top-down or is it bottom-up
In the Beginning
Before Ohio popularly elected its party representatives (those that make decisions about the party) at the County and State levels, “lodges” were formed at the county level to help coalesce people that aligned with policies to elect candidates that supported those policies. These lodges were the result of gatherings in cities, towns, villages, and townships and a lodge was the first recognition of a formal organization. When elections in the territories were to be held a “party” was thrown by the county lodge to get members to attend the meeting where they would select who they wanted to be in the General Election (this is where the term party originated for a political party.)
Candidates that had the support of lodges and were selected at a lodge’s party were much more apt to win because those that were members of the lodge took pride in supporting their pick. Before Ohio was a State all of these lodges operated independently and sometimes regionally. Upon becoming a State - Ohio followed the lodges of other states to create a council (grand lodge) that would pick statewide leaders and have a voice on statewide issues. The grand lodge was composed of the chairman from each county lodge and was in charge of throwing the State Convention (a large party of all the county lodges) to select Statewide Candidates for the General Election.
The lodge system was fashioned after the Freemason’s lodge system and as Freemasonry fell out of vogue - lodge was replaced with “party” and with “central committee”
County Independence
Just as States created the United States - County Parties created State Parties. And just as there were vociferous disagreements among the founders of the Country on the role of the federal government so too were there disagreements at the State-level on the role of State government.
It was very important that County platforms be developed and that County leaders had a say in the State platform. It was very important to have County and State political Conventions - so the State Party was seen as being a legitimate representation of a collection of the County Parties. Ohio adopted direct primaries in 1906 largely because both Democrats and Republicans did not believe that the State Parties represented them. This was a way to wrestle the party away from the special interests. Unfortunately, the State Central Committee made rules that made County Parties bow to the will of the State Central Committee.
By 1911, the counties had enough of corrupt top-down management and enough members of both parties joined together to call for a State Constitutional Convention to rewrite Ohio’s Constitution. While the 1851 Constitution was not scrapped, many changes were made to Ohio’s Constitution in 1912 including the addition of “Home Rule.” The Home Rule premise is based on if the Ohio Constitution does not grant power to the State legislature then that power is reserved to the County or to municipalities. So, unlike many other States, Ohio does not empower the State party to rule over the County parties. The State Chairman cannot remove the County Chairman or County Central Committee members. In many other States - the State Chairman can remove the County Chair and discipline County Central Committee members. In fact, Ohio has always had a rich tradition of having independent county parties that operate autonomously from the State party. Ohio up until the late 1980s had strong county parties and a weak State party.
Uneducated about our State’s Political History
The entire history of Ohio’s political parties up to the late 1980s was one of grassroots organization. Ohio’s Republican party was never intended to be a top-down organization that was simple for the special interests to infiltrate. County leaders always had a voice and if they were ignored by the State Central Committee the State Central Committee would pay the price at the State Convention. County leaders were able to change the bylaws of the State Central Committee at the State Convention. Unfortunately, since the Ohio legislature made State Political Conventions optional in the 1980s - Republicans have dominated the political landscape (but have done so by adopting moderate policies).
Many County Chairmen are under the mistaken impression that they take orders from the top and they cannot figure out why they cannot build a passion for the Ohio Republican Party. Since the late 1990s, Ohio’s political parties have largely become top-down organizations abiding by the wishes of the State Chairmen. Columbus was never intended to call the shots. Because the corruption at the State-level of the parties has gone unabated for years - many County Central Committee leaders have normalized their subservience and head nodding to the State Party and many County Central Committee members are fine not having a voice at the State-level.
Why Ohio’s political Leaders Had Never Traditionally sought Council from Officeholders prior to the 1980s
Ohio’s legislators have a very poor history when it comes to major scandals. Unfortunately, Republicans have worn this scandal moniker much more often than Democrats. This has always been due to a lack of ethical leadership within the Republican party. This tradition manifested itself in 1873 when the State of Ohio heavily invested in Railroad stock. Ohio politicians were bribed with discounted railroad stock to have the State of Ohio invest in Railroads. Jay Cooke, a Sandusky, OH native, was the Nation’s largest investment banker and made many unethical business decisions - controlled the State Central Committees. Jay Cooke managed the railroad investments that led to the great panic of 1873 when the railroad stock bubble burst.
After the great panic of 1873, there was a tremendous change in the County and State Central Committee members of the Ohio Republican Party. The rank-and-file party members that had listened to legislators that had been bribed were out and new members that were not connected to legislators were in. But alas money talks and when ethics are weak - Ohio becomes a Pay-to-Play state. It was important that whenever possible that there was a separation between candidates and officeholders and State Central Committee members to avoid any perception of impropriety. It was important that State Central Committee members chart a course for the State with policy positions and hold candidates accountable. That era largely ended for Republicans during Governor Jim Rhodes final term in office.
The Current Politics of the Ohio Republican Party
When someone runs for Governor, they are much more likely to win with the State Central Committees’ endorsement in the primary. To hedge their chances they look to see who has previously been appointed to an Ohio State government job. They also look to see if there are any new opportunities to appoint those currently on the State Central Committee. As Governor or Secretary of State- they may make many paid appointments. Gubernatorial candidates see if they can control the State Central Committee by promising appointments. Because these bribes remain legal and do not violate Ohio’s ethics laws - the State Central Committee - and even County Central Committees are dominated by those that are loyal to candidates first and not to the party. We can see this in Governor DeWine’s appointments to the Ohio State Board of Education. The State board is made up of 11 popularly elected members and 8 members appointed by the Governor. Seven of the 11 are now Democrats. Will the Governor’s appointees support the other Republicans on the committee? The Republican Governor has not encouraged his appointees to support protecting women’s sports, has not encouraged them to remove woke ideology policies from public schools, and will not specifically support bathroom use based solely on biological sex. The new President of the Board of Education’s husband sits on the Republican State Central Committee. This can be a terrible conflict of interest and allows the Governor to hide behind appointees in his refusal to address the problem.
Ohio Republicans lost their 2/3rds majority on the State Board of Education - meaning Ohio’s education system will get a lot more liberal over the next 4 years. Ohio Republicans also lost a Congressional seat while Democrats maintained their numbers.
Earth to County Central Committee members - we got problems that you need to address. Time to get out of your comfort zone and stop trusting the system that has not moved Ohio forward for years and puts us tops in the nation for Opioid Over dose deaths, Meth deaths, and Human Trafficking.