GOP Convention
Charlotte's Jim Morrill previews the action at this weekend's GOP convention. Guilford County's Marcus Kindley will be trying to unseat current chairman Linda Daves of Charlotte.
Daves won the race to temporarily replace former chairman Ferrel Blount back in December. At the time she faced Kindley and Sen. Andrew Broch. This election is for a full two-year term and is just a a two-horse race, unless someone comes out of the woodwork Saturday morning.
I've talked to a few folks about the race. It's tough to sketch out an absolutely accurate breakdown of how the support is running, but what seems to be going on is this:
- More business-oriented, suit-and-tie Republicans seem to be lining up behind Daves. Roughly lumped into this group are northern transplants, Republicans from big metro centers and those for who social issues are secondary or tertiary concerns.
- Those who wish the GOP to be more vocal, particularly on social issues, seem to be lining up behind Kindley. These are folks who'd like to see the state party more aggressively supporting candidates in legislative and local elections.
Who wins? With convention politics like this, it depends on who shows up to vote and how many minds are yet to be swayed when the doors close. (Republicans - in a practice that irks journalists to no end and seems kind on contrary to small-d democratic practice - close their nomination, speechifying and voting to the public.)
I'll be there when they pick a winner.