REHOBOTH BEACH -- Delaware's Republican Party voted through a change of the guard Friday night, replacing longtime national committeewoman Priscilla Rakestraw with businesswoman and conservative activist Ellen Barrosse at the state party's convention.
The party's other representative on the national committee, Wilmington lobbyist Laird Stabler, avoided an expected challenge inside the Rehoboth Convention Center hall, where RNC chair Reince Priebus took time away from the national elections to rally state Republicans.
The election of Barrosse, who founded the anti-abortion group A Rose and a Prayer, also moves the party rightward two years after a north-south rift resulted in tea party candidate Christine O'Donnell toppling moderate Republican Mike Castle in a U.S. Senate primary election.
"This is going to be an interesting four years," said Barrosse, who is also the chief executive of a Wilmington-based regulatory consulting business. "The things that separate us, north and south, moderate and conservative, some of those are real issues. They are serous issues," Barrosse added, while calling for party unity. "I don't want to say it's a matter of holding hands and singing Kumbaya. It's not."
Castle and O'Donnell both attended Friday's convention, staged inside the Rehoboth Convention Center on Rehoboth Avenue. Michelle Rollins was also in attendance to endorse Stabler, who had come under fire for thousands of dollars in political donations made to Democrats, including leaders Pete Schwartzkopf and Helene Keeley, as well as the party itself.
State Auditor Tom Wagner, the party's only elected official controlling a statewide office, defended Stabler against that criticism. "In the business you're in, you have to do that," Wagner said, saying the party needs to be "in unification mode."
Stabler echoed those remarks after he was re-elected without a challenge. "To move forward, to be successful, we have to be unified," Stabler said.
Republicans in Delaware are fighting to remain relevant despite a deep political disadvantage in Dover and throughout the state. Both chambers of the Legislature are controlled by strong Democratic majorities, and a Republican last controlled the Governor's Office in 1992. Rakestraw had served for 37 years, making her the longest-serving member of the Republican National Committee. She announced earlier his week that she would not seek re-election to her post.
Priebus used his remarks mostly to criticize President Barack Obama. Referencing comments that Obama made to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, saying that he would have "more flexibility" to work on middle defense and other issues after this fall's election, Priebus questioned Obama's "character." Media microphones picked up the conversation that Obama thought was private. "Character is how you act when nobody is looking," Priebus said Friday. "I think we have a character problem in the White House."
Priebus also praised Rakestraw, calling her a "great, great friend of mine." Rakestraw, who will keep her job through this August's national convention in Tampa, is the longest-serving member of the RNC.
"I hope you all realize that just because somebody's been in office for a long time doesn't mean they're ineffective," Priebus said. "Priscilla Rakestraw has been a leader of the Republican National Committee."
