Ousted GOP Leader Says McClintock Responsible : Politics: The central committee elects Richard Ferrier, 16 to 11, over Clara Davis. He is expected to help unify the strife-torn panel.

Moments after Republicans selected his successor Monday, former Ventura County Republican Central Committee Chairman Bill Jones accused Assemblyman Tom McClintock of “betraying true conservatives” by engineering his ouster from behind the scenes.

“He betrayed the conservatives on the committee by stabbing me in the back,” said Jones, who was dumped last month by committee members angry over his sympathetic comments about former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke.

“I’m obviously the conservative here, and he sided with the liberals,” Jones said. He said McClintock, an expert in parliamentary rules, provided committee members with an obscure rule violation, which they used to remove Jones from office.

“Tom is showing his true colors,” he said. “I could sooner tolerate an enemy than a traitor.”

McClintock, a Thousand Oaks Republican, was unavailable for comment. But Craig Primo, his aide and alternate on the central committee, said Jones’ accusations were not true.

“We were contacted by both sides,” Primo said of the parliamentary skirmishes over Jones’ chairmanship. “Tom is a registered parliamentarian, and he gave his opinion on the technical questions posed to him. That was the beginning and the end of our involvement.”

The accusations surfaced as a majority on the 28-member central committee elected Richard Ferrier as its new chairman, in an effort to bring together the deeply divided committee.

In a secret ballot, Ferrier defeated Clara Davis, 16 to 11, for the chairmanship of the panel that registers Republican voters, raises political contributions and helps get Republicans to the polls on election day.

For nearly a year, the committee has been paralyzed by internal strife as evangelical Christians assembled a 15-member majority to push resolutions that call for prayer in public schools, a constitutional ban on abortions and other political goals of the Christian right.

Their efforts have infuriated the county’s old-guard Republican leaders who effectively blocked financial contributions to the committee.

Ferrier, a reluctant candidate, was sought out to end the political acrimony between the two groups. In his speech, he asked committee members not to vote for him unless they wanted to unite in support of Republicans seeking public office.

“You want me as chairman because you think I can bring unity,” Ferrier told his fellow committee members. “I cannot. I cannot unless you make unity.”

Bob Larkin, a leader of the old-guard Republicans, said Monday night’s vote was an important step toward healing wounds on the committee.

“It was a very decisive vote, and the majority of us want to get with the business of registering Republicans.”

But Steve Frank, a political consultant in Simi Valley with close ties to Jones, said Ferrier’s election would not end the feud.

“The reality is that this committee is not going to be unified,” Frank said. “It is going to take more than a few speeches.”

After his election, Ferrier said he did not expect the committee to fall into complete harmony.

“It is not going to be a meeting of Quakers,” Ferrier said. “I think there is a reasonable possibility that the committee can work together.”

Former chairman Jones said he has decided against contesting his ouster or Ferrier’s election.

“I talked to the state (Republican) parliamentarian, and he agreed with Tom McClintock,” Jones said. “It is senseless for me to pursue it.”

As for why he believes McClintock was behind his ouster, Jones said, “It is common knowledge that he was.

“A lot of his donors are very liberal,” Jones said. “It is obvious that money is more important to him than issues.”

Ferrier and Larkin disputed that McClintock orchestrated Jones’ removal.

“That’s absurd,” Larkin said. “Tom stayed away from this entirely.”

Ferrier said he talked to McClintock several times on the phone about the matter.

“I sought Tom McClintock’s advice on what was legal,” Ferrier said. “It is false to say that Tom McClintock thought it up or engineered it.”