Hanger chastised by GOP ‘club’

By Bob Stuart

Published: June 27, 2008

Sen. Emmett Hanger said Friday that the current Augusta County Republican Committee is “a Republican club’’ that failed to recognize the will of the majority at the April county mass meeting.
Hanger said he also recently received a letter from the 6th District Republican Committee admonishing him for not recognizing the Augusta County unit as legitimate.
Sixth District Committee Chairman Fred Anderson declined to comment on the letter.
Hanger, R-Mount Solon, said the Augusta GOP disenfranchised the majority of people who turned out at the April mass meeting, and who initially elected Larry Roller chairman of the committee by a 141-103 vote.
Citing parliamentary and other errors, the mass meeting continued and incumbent Chairman Kurt Michael was re-elected by a vote of 57-2.
Michael’s chairmanship was upheld by both the 6th District and state central committees of the Republican Party.
Michael stepped down earlier this month, and was replaced by Bill Shirley of Churchville at a committee meeting Thursday night in Verona.
Shirley received unanimous support and was unopposed.
But Hanger said of the Augusta County Republican Committee that “I view that group as a Republican club.”
And he said while he hopes they continue to support Republican candidates for office in Virginia and president, “I won’t work with that committee. They disenfranchised the majority of people who came to that meeting.”
Shirley declined to comment.
Hanger said the best solution would be to have another mass meeting.
Meanwhile, the senator said he does not
believe Virginia’s transportation crisis will
be solved when the legislature reconvenes
next month in Richmond.
Hanger said the current difficult economic situation makes it tough to seriously discuss tax or other increases in fees to improve roads.
Hanger said now is not the time to consider additional revenue to improve road conditions across the commonwealth.
The subject of taxes helped fuel the rift between Hanger and the county GOP. Michael and other local party leaders, many of them virulently opposed to taxes, backed Hanger’s challenger, Scott Sayre, in last year’s primary.  Hanger’s opponents depicted him as a tax-and-spend incumbent, a description Hanger steadfastly disputes.