Politics

Complaint seeks GOP committeeman’s removal for supporting independent

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The newly-seated Republican Madison Township precinct committeeman is facing removal from the seat over her public support for the independent candidate in last fall’s Montgomery County Board of Commissioners race.

In a complaint filed with the Indiana Republican Party, former precinct head John Frey claims that committeeman April Johnson, who defeated Frey in the precinct race but lost her primary bid for his commissioner seat, signed and carried a petition for independent Jacob Arthur to challenge Frey in the general election. Frey prevailed in the race.

State party rules forbid precinct members from “actively or openly” supporting another candidate against a Republican nominee. The party will decide Johnson’s fate in a closed-door virtual hearing on the complaint Monday. Frey says he doesn’t want reinstated to the seat.

“If you’re going to represent the Republicans in your township, then you can not (by the bylaws of the State Party) carry a petition (which she signed as a carrier) to support a candidate that is not a Republican!” Frey said in a text message to the Journal Review.

Johnson, who has never held elected office before, said Arthur is a Republican who had to file as an independent to run against Frey. She said she believes Arthur’s views more closely align with the party’s stances.

“If I broke the rules, I apologize, I’m just trying to find the person who I feel most clearly exemplifies the Republican platform,” she said.

The episode gives the public an unusual look inside the private process of handling inner-party disputes and the role of precinct committeemen, who act as the footsoldier for a political party in their neighborhoods.

Committeemen, who are picked by voters in presidential election years, are tasked with registering new voters, turning out party members to the polls, recruiting and training volunteers and updating and correcting voter name lists, among other duties.

They sit on the party’s county central committee, which names the party chair and other officers.

Johnson easily prevailed in Madison Township’s precinct committee race, capturing more than 62% of the vote, but lost the Republican nomination for District 1 commissioner by 166 votes. (A third candidate, James Wills, received 283 votes.)

Arthur filed for the general election in July. On Sept. 17, Johnson posted a photo to her campaign Facebook page of an Arthur campaign yard sign next to one for Donald Trump outside her home.

“These are two leaders we can vote for that have the interests of the average citizen first in thier [sic] mind… vote for the candidates, not just the party,” the post read. “I fully believe in the Republican Party platform, but too many in government do not.”

Johnson wrote in a comment to the post that “Frey continues to align with his self interests and not average Joe citizen.” She added that the placards were private yard signs.

In his complaint, obtained by the Journal Review, Frey said there was another yard sign for Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Donald Rainwater in Johnson’s yard. Johnson said her husband supported Rainwater’s campaign.

Johnson later shared a post Arthur wrote on the No Wind Farm Montgomery County IN page saying, “I’m running for the Commission to do the right thing for the people of Montgomery County.”

She also posted an image of Frey’s public campaign finance disclosure and noted concerns about the sources of the contributions, which were not attached to the post.

Frey emailed his concerns to state Republican party leaders on Dec. 7, more than a month after Election Day. He claimed Johnson “was very active in an online campaign to support my opponent as well as working to tarnish my reputation as an upstanding public servant.”

“To be successful not just locally, but state-wide and at a national level, we must be first unified at a local level,” Frey wrote in the email, obtained by the Journal Review. (Johnson said she was disappointed by Frey’s tarnished reputation claims.)

Frey submitted copies of petitions for Arthur’s candidacy carried by Johnson, who signed the affirmations on each form as required under state elections law. Johnson signed another petition affirmed by Arthur nominating him for the ballot.

Asked why he waited until after the election to raise concerns, Frey said that was the time to start working on internal party business.

In a letter dated Jan. 12, Indiana Republican 4th District Chairman Randy Head informed Johnson that party officials learned she had supported and campaigned for an independent candidate running against a Republican in the November election.

“You are certainly free to hold any opinions you wish — the Republican Party does not seek to govern political belief,” Head wrote in the letter, obtained by the Journal Review. “However, our rules do state that no precinct chair may campaign against a fellow Republican and continue in good standing with the Party.”

Head outlined the complaint process and invited Johnson to resign before a hearing was scheduled. Johnson declined, telling the Journal Review that leaving the post “would be such a letdown for the people who voted for me.”

Frey said Head asked him to resubmit the complaint after Johnson didn’t respond to the letter. Johnson said the letter didn’t include Head’s contact information.

In a statement posted on her campaign Facebook page and sent to the Journal Review, Johnson suggested there was “another agenda at hand” in seeking her removal.

“Is this just sour grapes? Could it be that a ‘newcomer’ to local politics almost defeated a seated commissioner?” Johnson wrote.

She also questioned whether the move was aimed at disqualifying her from future appointments to political offices.

Frey disputed the claims. “She can play the victim all she wants,” he said in an interview. “She is not a victim other than her lack of understanding of what she ran [for] and is elected to.”

On Facebook, Johnson’s supporters were encouraged to ask their commissioners to drop the complaint against her. Local boards such as the Board of Commissioners play no role in addressing party complaints.

Under state GOP rules, the district committee oversees the local complaints process. Committee officers will preside over the hearing, where Frey and Johnson can call witnesses, testify or submit written statements before the ruling.

The committee’s officers are Head, vice chair Sharon Negele of Fountain County, secretary Beau Baird of Putnam County and treasurer Dudley Cruea of Fountain County.

If Johnson’s removed, the county party chair must appoint someone to fill the rest of the term, which expires in 2025.

Johnson hinted at future bids for political office. She told the Journal Review that supporters have urged her to run for commissioner again, though she says it’s too early to make a decision.

“If [the committee members] choose to remove me, I will continue to be the voice of the people in whatever way is laid before me to do,” she said.


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