DV Journal

With Liz Preate Havey stepping down as chair of the Montgomery County Republican Committee, will there be a leadership fight when the organization meets in King of Prussia Wednesday evening?

That is the concern as one candidate vying to replace her. Stan Casacio complained about alleged “back room” dealings on the Chris Stigall radio show. He is also asking for the committee meeting to be delayed for a month so he can campaign for the job. He is running against Christian Nascimento, who ran for Congress in 2022.

Havey also joined the program to rebut Casacio’s allegations. She said delaying the chairman election is not possible and the bylaws that required 10 days’ notice were followed. Also, 650 committee people would have to change their plans, and the candidates expecting to be endorsed for the May primary would also be disadvantaged.

Havey said she is too busy to continue holding the post, noting both her law practice and her position as president of the Pennsylvania Society. She is also helping Montgomery County Judge Carolyn Carluccio run for an opening on the state Supreme Court. Havey encouraged her to get into the race.

“And it looks like she has a primary,” she said. “That’s something I’m really excited about. It’s the most important race that we have on the ballot this year. I’d really like to help her.”

Havey says she is not worried about the county GOP’s future.

“I’ve spoken to a handful of people who could run this committee. Not just one,” she said. “They raised lots of money and ran for office. I knew there would be somebody good. We have a solid group of candidates,” she said.

Stigall asked her about transparency and the “back room” allegations.

“That is completely false. Our bylaws require 10 days’ notice. I gave two weeks. The executive committee knew. I had a meeting with them in the fall.”

“When I ran the first time, it was a two-week notice,” she said.  Casacio had never asked for the bylaws or the contact list. Nascimento did.

“You know what Stan did. He went to Florida…the real reason he wants the 30 days is he’s on an extended vacation,” said Havey.  “Stan can hop on a plane and come home. He has plenty of money. Let’s do it.”

The Montgomery County GOP is as “strong as it can possibly be,” said Havey. “When I got in there, there was no money. I built a great database. We have a mail machine and an envelope machine. We have very active social media. All those we put in place in four years and 10 months. I raised about $1.4 million, which is far more than my predecessors did.

“We invested about $300,000 of that into critical races. We also put into place training for all our candidates. Last year, for the first time in a decade, we had someone running for every legislative seat in Montgomery County.”

Neither Casacio nor Nascimento responded to requests for comment.

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