Maine National Committeeman Mark Willis Calls Out Reince Priebus, Shawn Steel In Letter To RNC

As reported yesterday by Undercover Porcupine in the article “Reince Priebus, RNC Strike Challenger Mark Willis With Ron Paul Write-In Candidacy”, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has been smearing Maine National Committeeman and challenger for Chair Mark Willis. Phone calls have been made to members of the RNC by Priebus claiming that Willis can be removed for a rules violation, stating that his appearance as a write-in alongside Ron Paul in Maine was working against the Romney/Ryan ticket.

California National Committeeman Shawn Steel also sent out a letter to the Republican National Committee calling out Willis, which was obtained by the DailyCaller. The DailyCaller article, “Drama in RNC election as Ron Paul supporter makes run for chairman”, has the letter text which echoes much of what Priebus has been personally telling people.

As noted in yesterday’s article however, candidate consent is not required to become a registered write-in in the State of Maine. The consent of four presidential electors is all that is required. Thus, former Congressman Ron Paul and National Comitteeman Mark Willis did not consent.

Patrick Eisenhart, the elector who submitted the ticket, defended Willis. In a comment on yesterday’s article, Eisenhart called out the party’s wasteful habits under Priebus, which have been damaging to the party. He went out to say, “As a Republican, I rejected those tactics by submitting Paul and Willis as candidates to the Maine Secretary of State. Neither had any prior knowledge or had given their consent thus Priebus attempt to disqualify Willis is absolutely groundless and pathetic.”

Now in a letter sent out to the Republican National Committee obtained by Undercover Porcupine, Mark Willis has called out Reince Priebus and his dirty tactics:

My fellow Republicans,

Today I am calling upon my fellow RNC committeemen and committeewomen to demand that Reince Priebus stop using the financial and personnel resources of the Republican National Committee to promote his personal re-election campaign.

Frankly, instead of focusing on a plan to fix the Republican Party’s 2012 election failures while he was at the helm, Chairman Preibus is playing telephone games; he’s spending this valuable time spreading stories that are devoid of fact, and making accusations which are not only baseless, but show an utter disregard for any sort of due diligence or even the most cursory investigation on the part of the man who would be Chair, again.

Namely, it has come to my attention that rumors have been circulated amongst many, if not all of you regarding my credibility to run for RNC chair and my eligibility to be a member of the RNC. Furthermore, I am given to believe these rumors came from the Office of the Republican National Committee Chairman, Reince Preibus.

The rumors themselves are petty; and I would direct you to review Bangor News’ Chris Dixon coverage of the story: http://undercoverporcupine.bangordailynews.com/2013/01/17/politics/reince-priebus-rnc-strike-challenger-mark-willis-with-ron-paul-write-in-candidacy/

Bottom line: Messer’s Preibus and Steel were wrong and they knew it at the time. The barest of research would have confirmed everything I told them as true; but instead, they decided to ignore the facts. But most disturbingly, it appears as though the Chairman is using his Office and RNC resources to promote his personal campaign to remain Chairman.

I therefore call on both Reince and Shawn to apologize to me and to you, the national committee members, for their outrageous and disingenuous attack on my candidacy to represent you as your Chairman and to ask Reince to stop using RNC resources to promote his candidacy.

Looking forward to seeing all of you in Charlotte next week.

Best Regards,

Mark D. Willis
National Committeeman, Maine Republican Party

It was made extremely clear last year that Reince Priebus does not care about electoral success for the Republican Party and is merely in position for power. When he joined forces with Benjamin Ginsberg, the Romney campaign lawyer who orchestrated the rules change, he effectively stole away nominating power from everyday Republicans in the 2016 presidential primary. This widespread alienation of party members resulted in a massive defeat in the 2012 general election.

While California National Committeeman Shawn Steel and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus continue to deceive fellow members for the purpose of guarding power, Maine National Committeeman Mark Willis continues to display the dignity and respect that shows why it is important he become the next party chairman. He, unlike the current chair, is not power hungry or deceptive, nor does he mobilize followers to lead a smear campaign.

If the Republican National Committee is serious about not blowing 2016 like they did 2008 and 2012, then the first logical move is to remove their dishonest leader from his position. Mark Willis, a US Army veteran, devoted Republican, and honest leader, needs to be elected as the next Chairman of the Republican National Committee. After two-term President Barack Obama is done with his big government legacy, America can’t afford for the Republican Party to continue being selfish and liberal.

Chris Dixon

About Chris Dixon

Chris Dixon is a libertarian-leaning writer and managing editor for The Liberty Conservative. In addition to his political writing, he also covers baseball for Cleat Geeks and enjoys writing on a number of other topics ranging on Medium.