GOP Infighting Is a County and Statewide Problem

On Friday, I told you that NorCo GOP party chair Glenn Geissinger has taken the highly unusual step of banning four elected state committee members (Debra Biro, Melanie Heilman, Steve Lynch and Richard Morea) from monthly county meetings because their outrageous behavior in June has sparked a criminal investigation. Geissinger's decision was authorized by counsel for the state GOP committee. I have since learned that NorCo is by no means alone. Party chairs in other counties are taking action against so called "patriots" who refuse to play by the rules. Will this hurt Republican candidates in this year's municipal races?  In even the best of times, candidates who rely on party infrastructure and finances are doomed to fail. But the infighting is certainly unhelpful. 

NorCo Infighting

In Northampton County, the GOP is made up of three factions. First, there are the Steve Lynch fascists, a cult of personality who must worship Lynch. Second, there are Lee Snover's MAGAs, who must adore Donald Trump. Finally, there's the Lehigh Valley Tea Party. They actually appear normal in comparison to the other two factions.   

Currently, the Lehigh Valley Tea Party has a tenuous grip on leadership in NorCo. This is driving both Lynch and Snover nuts. Both suffer from a bad case of sour grapes. 

Snover is a former chair. For several years, she was able to hold off the tea party during raucous meetings. In one instance, the meeting ended with a call to 9-1-1. After Trump's election, her MAGA antics alienated her among local elected officials. She attended the January 6 insurrection, just like Lynch. Party donations dropped as she became increasingly extreme. . 

Lynch was certain he was winning the race for party chair by a landslide. After all, he had spreadsheets. His loss to Army veteran Glenn Geissinger, who actually graduated from Moravian (accounting) and Lehigh (accounting, marketing) must have been a blow to Lynch's rather massive ego. It's hard to understand why Republicans would select am educated businessman who served in the 82d Airborne over a narcissist who loves posting pictures of himself, but there it is. 

After Geissinger's victory, the Lynch mob and Lee's lackeys united to raise havoc with Geissinger and local party leadership. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

At June's monthly meeting, the Lynch mob and Lee's lackeys unleashed a vicious and highly intrusive personal attack against two committee members. I'm unwilling to provide details, but it was bad enough that police are now involved and a criminal investigation is under way. 

In response to my story, a reader I'll call Dumbass claimed to have given an audio of the meeting to an investigating detective. This officer was very grateful. Dumbass is apparently unaware that it is a crime to surreptitiously record a private meeting. 

Statewide Infighting

Within hours of Friday's story, Second Amendment lawyer Joshua Prince was on Bobby Gunther Walsh's morning radio show. He was there to talk about what is happening statewide, but also discussed Northampton County.  

Prince is a failed candidate for Commonwealth Court. He was rejected in the primary. He failed to secure the endorsement of the state party and also received a "not recommended" rating from the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He's a good lawyer, but his extreme views do cast a pall on his temperament. 

Is he another sufferer of sour grapes? 

As if to prove that he is injudicious, he's written a series of blogs (he's up to four installments) highly critical of the state and various county parties. On Gunther's radio show, he said he had a gentleman's agreement with state party chair Lawrence Tabas to raise any concerns he had privately, but was going public because he felt the agreement was violated.  

According to Prince, county committees are removing "conservative patriots" and replacing them with lifelong Democrats who are infiltrating the party. 

I think what's really going on is that these so-called patriots only recently became involved in politics and are just trying to bully their way into power. 

Speaking specifically about NorCo, Prince claimed that Glenn Geissinger "dislikes" four "patriots" so he filed a "false police report against them" and is using that as a pretext to preclude them from attending meetings. He then claims that Geissinger contacted me, "a liberal blogger, and gives him all the information relative to this ... ." 

That's inaccurate on several counts. I was first aware of this disgusting intrusion into the private lives of two committee members almost immediately after it happened because I spoke with the victims. I decided not to write about it then because the victims of this attack have been violated and writing about it would cause more pain. I then received an email from "Another Concerned Republican", chiding me for refusing to write a story. It included material whose distribution might very well be a crime. I forwarded that email to the District Attorney. He is in the best position to make that determination. 

Last Thursday, I heard a rumor that Geissinger had banned four state committee members from meetings because they are subjects of that investigation. In my view, when four elected state committee members are banned from participating in their county's meetings, that's a story. But I needed to verify.  I contacted Geissinger, and he confirmed that the rumor was accurate. He declined to go into detail or name them, but did say he was authorized to proscribe these members by the state committee's counsel. 

Prince stated that Geissinger's actions were unsanctioned, so I contacted Glenn again on Saturday. He reiterated that he had received authorization. Prince was obviously misinformed. 

Police were contacted by at least five people. Geisinger may have been one, or may have just responded to a police inquiry.