Womack is BACK.

 

Robin “Hip Replacement”  Hayes WILL INDEED have a competent, credible challenger in the 2019 race for NCGOP state chairman.  Sources tell us Lee County GOP chairman Jim Womack will be taking another stab at sending Dallas and his Grandpa home for good in their clown car. 

To refresh your memories, here is coverage of their one and only debate from two years ago.  (The video has been taken down from Facebook.)

2016 and 2018 were nothing short of disastrous for Chairman Hip-Replacement and his grandson, Dallas.  Notable losses during those periods include:  two associate justice spots on the NC Supreme Court,  FOUR Appeals Court seats, NC Senate super-majority, NC House super -majority, and governor.

Many observers see the NCGOP as being ONE ELECTION CYCLE AWAY from losing every gain it has made since the 2010 elections.

While Chairman Hip Replacement has stumbled and bumbled, the Lee County party — under Jim Womack’s leadership — has prospered.  The GOP has become competitive again in a very very very Democrat county.  They came within inches of taking the majority on the county board of commissioners AND the county school board.

Field organizing and fundraising also went well under the leadership of Chairman Womack.  One Lee County politico told me, just after the 2018 vote:

“Jim had volunteers out the wazoo.  You could pick a polling place in the county.  And you’d have to walk  a gauntlet of ten to twenty Republican activists promoting the Republican candidates before you got inside the front door.”

On the fundraising front, another of my Lee County sources had this to offer:

“Our candidates had all the money they could possibly need.  I heard from candidates saying ‘Wow, this is more than I asked for. It’s more than I need.  What do I do with it?’  “

Lee County is home to a Democrat machine controlled by the iron fist of former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker.  I’m told the Democrats, and of course  their friends who like to play on both sides of the political fence, HAAAAAAAAATE  Womack with a passion.

Womack, as a former county commissioner and current party chairman, has been a stickler on the issue of transparency.

Said my Lee County source:

“[…] As a commissioner, Jim made it his mission to read, scrutinize and question EVERY contract that came through the county manager’s office.  He asked a lot of questions that ended up embarrassing Dennis and the boys.  It would not shock me to see Democrats donating to the efforts to prop up Hayes and slander Womack.  They see him as dangerous to the whole business-as-usual thing. They hate him so much.  On one hand, they might like to get him out of Lee County.  But, on the other hand, Wayne Goodwin and that crowd in Raleigh would have to deal with him full-time.[…]”

Admirers in Lee County joke that Womack does not appear to ever sleep.  He’s notorious for firing off emails during the wee hours of the morning when most people are asleep.

Observers speak admiringly of Womack’s offensive against the Wicker machine and the success GOP candidates had in knocking off top Wicker  machine lieutenants.    (One of the most notable success stories out of Lee County in 2018 was the victory of Arianna del Palazzo, a 24 year old Republican making her first run for office.  She knocked off a 72-year-old long-time incumbent Democrat county commissioner known for his close ties to Wicker.  Womack is credited with recruiting del Palazzo and mentoring her through her campaign.) 

It’s been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.  Will the NCGOP choose insanity or recovery and revitalization in 2019?