Amid Controversy, Local GOP Committee Elects a New Leader

Jackie Rodgers, the Republican Central Committee member backed by Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), was unanimously chosen to lead the group after a controversial vote Monday night, becoming the first African American chairperson of the local party.

The win against rival Leslie Cornejo brings the new chairwoman the chance to appoint as many as eight delegates to the state Republican Party committee and is viewed by some as a victory of the conservative faction of the party.

Rodgers’ opponents have questioned the scheduling of the meeting and argue that it occurred illegally because the date was not endorsed by Cornejo, the committee’s secretary. It was unclear Tuesday whether Cornejo, who has scheduled a second vote for next Monday, will now concede to Rodgers.

At the meeting--attended by 15 members of the committee--and in an interview afterward, Rodgers called for county Republicans to unite and played down ideological differences.

“There are a lot of adjectives we use to classify ourselves,” the Oxnard resident said Tuesday. “One is moderate, one is conservative, one is liberal. The first thing we need to be is Republican.”

Rodgers said she will focus on recruiting new GOP voters by reaching out to groups underrepresented within the party, such as minorities.

The vote follows controversy over the scheduling of the election, which occurred while Cornejo, also an Oxnard resident, was away. Cornejo, considered a moderate within the county’s Republican ranks, has argued that the vote would not count because it occurred during an illegal meeting.

Cornejo and several of her major supporters were out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Rodgers and her supporters say they set the organizational meeting for Monday in compliance with the committee’s bylaws and only after current party leaders refused to call the meeting themselves. Supporters say it’s important to quickly establish the committee leadership and get busy promoting Republican candidates.

“I’m as happy as can be she got elected,” Strickland said. “I think this sends a message. We need to go into areas we’re not used to going into. You can’t win an election going in two weeks before the election saying, ‘Viva Bush! Viva Dole!’ ”

Rodgers said she expected political skirmishes within the party to die down.

“Everyone has the right to feel the way they feel,” she said. “I think there are a lot of issues we do agree on: We need to get to work registering [people], raising funds, and getting Republicans elected.”