Why county GOP groups have so much drama
County parties are where the movement’s biggest fights get worked out face to face
County politics can really get heated.
Honestly, this shouldn’t be a surprise: When you gather the most committed people in a county and ask them to compete for influence, you’re going to have some dustups.
A lot of the disputes might look unreasonable and silly (and sure, some of them are). But they’re often the result of real differences about mission and strategy.
And sometimes they even comes to blows, as the Cumberland County GOP reminded us last week when two party leaders filed assault charges against each other. I won’t go into all the grisly details (you can read them at CityView if you’d like), but I do want to talk about why county politics can be so contentious, and why it matters1.
Why county parties run hot
I’ve written before that politics is the same at every level. The stakes change, but human nature doesn’t. A U.S. Senate race and an HOA election can look remarkably similar behind the scenes.
County Republican and Democrat groups fall right in a sweet spot for drama: Local…