BELFAST, Maine — The battle over whether Maine Republican Party delegates who support U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, should be allowed to participate in the Republican National Convention in Tampa moved to the courts Friday.
Delegates Stavros Mendros, Brent Tweed and Matthew Mcdonald filed a request for an injunction with Belfast Superior Court.
It asks that the court rule against the Republican National Committee and stop its process of investigating whether 21 Paul delegates from Maine were elected legally during the party’s state convention in Maine.
“We filed an injunction that basically states the RNC has no authority at this point,” Mendros said. “We were duly elected.”
Mendros said the injunction notes the RNC was supposed to rule on the issue last Friday but instead asked for more evidence against the Paul delegates.
“They have to rule based on the evidence given to them in the complaint,” Mendros said. “They didn’t do that; they asked for more evidence. They can’t do that. By asking for more evidence, they are admitting they didn’t have enough evidence to rule against us, which means the contest is over. They don’t get a second chance to bring in more evidence.”
Paul, a Republican Party candidate for president, gained the support of Maine delegates during a controversial state convention where well-organized Paul supporters seized control and elected their delegates to the national convention.
But leading Maine Republicans, including a national party committeewoman and the chairman of Mitt Romney’s campaign in Maine, filed a complaint with the party’s national committee asking it to disqualify the Ron Paul delegates and prohibit them from taking their seats at the national convention, scheduled for Aug. 27-30.
Committeewoman Jan Staples and Peter E. Cianchette alleged:
• The failure of the credentialing process at the state convention led to illegal votes being cast and counted.
• There was not a quorum when votes were cast for at-large delegates and alternates.
• Widespread credentialing irregularities and lax floor security led to illegal votes being cast and counted.
• Convention officials repeatedly violated party and parliamentary rules.
But Mendros and other Paul delegates have said the state convention was conducted legally and within the rules. Other prominent Maine Republicans, including Gov. Paul LePage, have said the Paul delegates deserve to be seated.
LePage, a Romney supporter, last week told a radio show host he would boycott the convention if the Maine delegation were not seated.
Romney is the GOP’s presumptive nominee, but if Paul can win the support of the majority of delegates from at least five states, he will be given a chance to address the convention formally for 15 minutes, under National Republican Party rules.
As it stands, Paul has the support of the majority of delegates from Maine, Minnesota, Nevada and Utah. His campaign is challenging the results of state conventions in Massachusetts, Louisiana and Oregon in hopes of seating delegates from those states.
A message to the RNC’s media team in Washington, D.C., was not returned Friday.
To see more from the Sun Journal, visit sunjournal.com.
Ron Paul and his tea party gang have stolen an election (Mitt Romney WON Maine, but Ron Paul gets all of the delegates) and are killing my party in Maine.
Paul stole Maine? That’s rich. the primary in Maine was at best incompetent, and at worst corrupt. Romney was declared the winner despite it being neck and neck and not all votes counted. Many votes showed up as zero or were altered. Throughout many locations the caucus conventions were asked not to record their votes, but merely send them in. Interestingly several precincts did record their votes and later noticed that the state had the wrong numbers listed. Paul stole nothing and the results of Maine voting either show an astounding amount of incompetence in their politics, or a strong degree of corruption.
The admirable thing would have been to disturb the delegations evenly based on the results. The only person these antics help is Barack Obama. A conspiracy minded person would believe that this entire episode was created by Obama’s campaign to make Romney look weak.
That Obama is one smart cookie. Somehow he set up the process for Maine Republicans to select their candidate for president. And he turned it into an episode of the Keystone Cops. That man deserves another term. If he can underhandedly totally screw up Maine’s Republicans, the rest of the world doesn’t stand a chance. USA – Number One!
from all that I could get from what happened it appears that Joshua , you are right on the money.. Ron Paul got a whipping but it wasn’t from the voters.. but now we have a problem..if Romney is, indeed, the candidate, we absolutely know that Ron Paul has zero chance for an upset nationally.. that begs the question as to how far right is the tea party and how far are they willing to go to make a point ? are you willing to get obama re-elected ? that’s exactly what will happen if conservative votes are piled onto a third candidate as a protest vote… it’s a vote wasted..
are you willing to get obama re-elected ? that’s exactly what will happen if conservative votes are piled onto a third candidate as a protest vote… it’s a vote wasted..
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the only vote “WASTED” is one which is not cast.
a vote for Romney is a vote for Obama. Not only are they both cut from the same cloth, Romney cannot beat Obama, however, it has been shown that Ron Paul CAN beat Obama.
you seem to be stuck on the notion of a “two-party only system”….not good–especially when they both seek to undermine the very essnce of our existance—LIBERTY.
well put this is the rationality of the situation people fail to see. The media has put up a facade as paul being an unwinning canaidate but he has HUGE grass roots popularity. The reason the republican party stiffled him is because they know if he was the candidate he would be elected and they are scared of having an honest person in the whitehouse.
Obama and Romney are attached to the exact same strings
It wasn’t a primary, but a state-wide caucus. And the results were not binding, as was pointed out at the time.
The real contest at the caucuses, which the Paulians understood, was for delegates to the GOP State Convention. Paul supporters played by the rules, and were successful in having many of their supporters chosen as delegates.
Does that feel good to say? You are mistaken to the third degree. Guess you are new to the delegate process. That is cool if you are, and I welcome you to the process. Our founding father understood that special interests ruined the electoral process, and made rules that made sure the involved persons that cared about our elections got heard. These guys studied every past government, and the reason why they faulted. Wake up please.. this country needs you. The central bank is an old concept, and didn’t work back in Roman times. Learn history, and don’t repeat it.
“Special Interests” That is kind of strange.
Ron Paul supporters should be commended for their dedication to their preferred candidate. The only thing is that it would have been preferred if they put as much effort into the actual elections as they have in the delegate selection. Just maybe he would have been the presumptuous candidate not Mitt Romney.
People honestly went out to vote on their preferred candidate all in honest that their wishes would be respected. Instead in some primaries and caucuses supporters of one candidate wanted to over turn their results.
And, now some want to inject “special interests.” Let us just call it ironic. Thankfully, with 500 delegates and alternative delegates including a possibility of the plurality of 5-7 states Ron Paul will not be the GOP candidate.
If a person truly cared about Mitt Romney then they would have realized that the straw poll was nothing but a beauty contest and that the real way to ensure his delegates winning would be to actually show up to the convention. Not our fault Romney supporters had better things to do on that weekend.
Yes, it is a “beauty contest,” and Mitt Romney won.
Big deal. The straw poll means absolutely nothing.
Tell me, were you a delegate at the convention?
Yes you are right, it means nothing. It will not change the fact that at convention in Florida will formally nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as their nominee.
Hey, how come you won’t tell me if you were a delegate or not?
How come you do can’t accept Ron Paul will not get the nomination?
If the Romney campaign is so positive of that then why do they feel the need to disenfranchise delegates?
It isn’t our fault that Romney supporters stayed home, K? It happened all over the country and that is why the RNC and the Romney Campaign are nervously pulling dirty tricks.
Which number is bigger 18,593,616 or 4,572? When you can answer that question then maybe were might talk about disenfranchisement. Remember, that is maybe.
I found this on another website.
By Pulse Opinion Research
Paul gets 6% more Independents against Obama than Romney does; and 4% less vote for Obama with Paul than Romney; for a total of 10%. More Republicans vote for Obama if Romney is the nominee.
In reality Paul is beating Obama:
Paul – 47.05%Obama – 45.7%
Romney is losing to Obama:
Romney – 45.6%Paul – 46.55%If you like numbers so much then who has a better chance of beating Obama. Or do you want Obama to win?
A web based survey company? Next time please proved the link to the full results. It is doubtful that there is any survey with Ron Paul’s name on it after May. However, those polls clearly show Obama beating Ron Paul.
Only one of those numbers actually means anything.
The majority of Americans voted for NOBODY so by all rights we shouldn’t even have a government at all.
That is your task if you choose. However, you will have to choose between the red pill or blue pill first.
132 words and you said nothing.
You must have nothing better to do to take the time to count them. As you seem to be idle, and you know what they say about idle hands. How many letters?
There are 669 letters.
And I didn’t have to count them — just highlight your post, copy into Word, then click on “word count” — it tells the number of words and number of characters with and without spaces.
Downeastlaw, our Maine Republican party has been dead for quite awhile. What is now called the Maine Republican Party is not a thing like the Party I joined back in 1967 and I would imagine you could say the same thing. It has been hijacked by a bunch of nutcases who are more interested in wearing pajamas in public that are made out of American Flags and proclaiming themselves to be “REAL PATRIOTS” or “REAL AMERICANS”. They are unwilling to compromise and heaven help the candidate who does not march in lockstep to their flawed ideology (think Olympia Snowe). They claim to “love my country” but do not seem to like Americans who have different opinions then they do. They profess a love for the US Constitution but would deny to others the rights granted by that document. They are great at calling people names such as socialist, fascist and communist. They love to yell “voter fraud” at every opportunity, but when investigations are done no “voter fraud” is found. They are the party that held a caucus and declared a winner before all the votes were counted. The Maine Republican Party embraces proven liars, places ideology above State or Country and is unwilling to compromise. That sure isn’t the party I joined. And it in no way resembles the Party of Lincoln or Margaret Chase Smith.
Uh, you have it the OTHER WAY AROUND! If Mitt Romney supporters had been the majority at the convention then his side would have won. I bet you didn’t even bother to show up to the convention and didn’t even bother becoming a delegate because you didn’t understand that the caucus in February was not where the candidate was selected. Your ignorance isn’t our fault.
get real dude. your party in maine? if you are a websterite you are a fool.
It is funny how Republicans always claim to be more patriotic then everyone else, but they stifle democracy and push for a dictatorship. You can’t vote for who you want, either you vote for who we tell you or you will be expelled. Talk about voter fraud, I wonder when they will try to pass a law allowing them to buy votes.
They’re determined to find voter fraud somewhere, even if it’s within their own party.
In this particular case, GOP Chair Charlie Webster and his inner circle [which includes Jan Staples] are 100% responsible for the problems with the convention.
They failed to set up any safeguards or commonsense steps for the large number of delegates which they KNEW would be there. The SNAFU there was on purpose.
Charlie Webster himself held up the beginning of the convention on the first day for more than an hour while the Romney delegates [who slept in] got into the center. This was unprecedented. He most certainly did not do this when it was the Ron Paul delegates who were at the back of the line in 2008.
The Romney Campaign, of which Peter Cianchette was conferring with, sent their lawyer in to challenge every single vote counted throughout the convention. It was so disgusting that many of those who were watching the count left in dismay and revulsion.
And if all that was not enough, the Romney delegates left in HUGE numbers when it became clear that they did not have a majority. Several even told their town delegations that they were leaving and there would be no quorum.
And so these two divisionsists — Jan Staples and Peter Cianchette — predictably used the planned incompetence to try to invalidate the lawful election.
This is apparently a known strategy, but entirely without ethics, as are they.
The way the convention was held was a disgrace! Blame the weather for the mess and don’t seat anyone because of the convention not being completed on the original date. If people had really wanted to vote they would have voted on the day the convention was scheduled bad weather or not.
It was a warm, if overcast, weekend. There was no bad weather. The folks waiting to get their credentials on Saturday morning waited in a long line outside. Many were still waiting when GOP Party Chair Charlie Webster called the convention to order.
I was under the impression that weather caused the problem and that was why they had another week-end that wasn’t originally scheduled.
That was for the caucus. And the weather wasn’t all that bad then.
Here’s a deal for you Mr. Mendros, if you can get the government to allow us to “file an injunction that basically states the RNC has no authority at this point,” then we’ll elect you as President of the United States of America.
nope
Here’s an interesting post from this page:
“It is funny how Republicans always claim to be more patriotic then everyone else, but they stifle democracy and push for a dictatorship. You can’t vote for who you want, either you vote for who we tell you or you will be expelled. Talk about voter fraud, I wonder when they will try to pass a
law allowing them to buy votes. “
Is it not true that the Republican Supreme Court has already ruled that a very rich man in Syria can buy votes in Iowa? How did a person who is otherwise so perceptive happen to miss that?
The humble Farmer
so.. how are things in la la land lately ….
You and many others have had the exact observation, well put humble!
Here is a video of why we must rally behind Romney to beat Obama…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTDYHAyWR7A
Those with an interest in reading the actual challenge filed by Staples can find it here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/101359356/Challenge-to-Maine-GOP-Delegates
You would think that the RNC and the Romney campaign would be more confident then they actually are. Just what are they so afraid of that they would actually disenfranchise Maine Republicans from seating delegates of their choosing?
I guess when everyone said Ron Paul “can’t” win they really meant it. He can’t win, because they will do everything in their power to prevent him from winning- including disenfranchising entire states.
I was at the convention as a delegate. I saw the “irregularities” and they were NOT coming from our side!
The Republican Party follows rules? …. I thought they only bent the rules or changed the way the game is played, but follow rules ….. I don’t think so. And our bully boy governor not showing up would only be helping his party.
State GOP leadership: thanks again!
Is it pejorative to say “well-organized Paul supporters seized control and elected their delegates to the national convention?” Did they physically seize control? Or were they the majority who decided the election of delegates?
…it is like floating on a sea of corruption…from horizon to horizon all we can see is corruption and we hope, wait and pray for the ship of Ron Paul to appear on the horizon so we have the opportunity to speak for 15 minutes…what cowards we all are….?
The Romney criminals should already be in jail across the country, charged with treason and some already scheduled for hanging….Regards,RJ O’GuilloryAuthor-Webster Groves-The Life of an Insane Family
Why do we have to go thru this big show ? its quite obvious that Romney /Ryan are the national choice.
I found this on another website.
By Pulse Opinion Research
Paul gets 6% more Independents against Obama than Romney does; and 4% less vote for Obama with Paul than Romney; for a total of 10%. More Republicans vote for Obama if Romney is the nominee.
In reality Paul is beating Obama:
Paul – 47.05%Obama – 45.7%
Romney is losing to Obama:
Romney – 45.6%Paul – 46.55%
A Nation swallowing the Blue Pill’s choice
The Ron Paul Coalition are as angry as a nest of hornets right now.
Corrupt Controlled Media’s blackout will fail in Tampa Bay Florida
The Maine Republican Party will stomp on its own, without any compunctions whatsoever, to smooth the path for Romney. Rules be damned. The ends always justify the means with the GOP elite.
“And now,” said Max, “let the wild rumpus start” – Maurice Sendak, “Where the Wild Things Are.”
I am not particulary fond of Romney,but if Paul supporters were serious about gettting Obama out of the White House then this would not be happening.
I found this on another website.
By Pulse Opinion Research
Paul gets 6% more Independents against Obama than Romney does; and 4% less vote for Obama with Paul than Romney; for a total of 10%. More Republicans vote for Obama if Romney is the nominee.
In reality Paul is beating Obama:
Paul – 47.05%Obama – 45.7%
Romney is losing to Obama:
Romney – 45.6%Paul – 46.55%
—
Paul is just like Romney though — the more people learn about him, the more they learn about his extremes and the less they like him.
really ? I thought it was the opposite? The more I learned about Paul the more I liked him and I voted for Obama last time. Duh!
we are and we know romney wont beat obama. If romney supporters were serious about getting obama out of office they would rally behind ron paul.
I mean at this point the romney campaign is saying a lot of the same stuff on economic policy as paul is. They are parroting the concepts of liberty and freedom paul has been saying for 30 years because it is what the people want now… so in true fashion of main stream pandering politics they tell em’ what they wanna here. However the fact the romney campaign so fervently denies ron paul as a legitimate candidate is because Romney has no intention of making the USA more Free.
It doesn’t really matter does it, if Obama wins. they are both bought and paid for by the same corporations, so to make a stand is better then loosing your soul.
Yes, at this point we’re mad as hell and not taking it anymore — by NOT voting for their craptastic candidate Obomney.
Green Party all the way!
What’s funny is they accuse Paul supporters of cheating at the Maine Convention but it was Romney supporters passing out fake slates and dressing up as a Paul supporter to sabatoge and cause confusion ..
This just shows the need for a primary in this state to avoid issues like these. Let the voters decide who goes to represent them.