Crazyworld

It’s hard letting go.

Apparently, that’s a lesson former Spartanburg County Republican Party Chairman Rick Beltram hasn’t learned. And from the looks of it, he doesn’t plan to.

Beltram, who lost his bid to retain his seat to new Chairwoman LaDonna Ryggs by a 291-87 vote earlier this month, today said he plans to form a political action committee. The Piedmont Political Forum PAC will encompass all of the Upstate and stretch a bit into North Carolina, he said.

The way it sounds, this is Beltram and those loyal to him setting up an alternate funding stream for candidates who, like him, are not affiliated with the latest incarnation of the county Republican Party.

The PAC will include “a mixed bag of Republicans, going from hard-core Republicans all the way up to those who are just right of center,” he said.

He continued: “The people who will be there will be Republican. And the people who are there will be more concerned with winning elections than spewing out rhetoric. This group will be conservative, but it will not be one that will want to send Lindsey Graham under the bus. It will not be a group that will boo Gresham Barrett.”

Beltram said he is still getting legal advice as to how to set everything up. I’m guessing part of that advice will include how he handles selling services — if he’s even allowed to — to political candidates. I say that because since losing the county party chairmanship, he has referred to state Rep. Steve Parker, R-Spartanburg, as his “client.”

Another detail still being worked out: What donation level will entitle someone to call themselves a “member” of the PAC. Members, Beltram said, will collectively determine which candidates the group supports financially.

The Piedmont Political Forum will hold its organizational meeting at 9 a.m. on May 9 at The Junction Restaurant in Spartanburg. After that, the group will meet monthly for breakfast. The first scheduled meeting is at 9 a.m. on June 13 at the Country Hearth Inn.

Oh, and the PAC’s headquarters will be on South Pine Street, which doubled as the Spartanburg County Republican Party’s headquarters until Beltram lost control of it and kicked everyone out. (His name is on the building’s lease. The party is currently looking for a new HQ, Ryggs has said.)

“People who want a more broad involvement will find this very attractive,” Beltram said.

“I’ve read some of the reviews of what’s going on and would say the more typical Republican voter has gotten scared. I’ve always had an axiom: If you could agree with someone 80 percent of the time, you’re good to go. Now, if you don’t agree with someone 100 percent of the time, you’re a RINO.”

A RINO, of course, is a Republican In Name Only. Local political consultant Kerry Wood has made no bones lately about being in the business of RINO hunting.

Sounds like someone just painted a target on his back...

If you’ve seen LaDonna Ryggs’ list of people supporting her bid for Spartanburg County GOP chairman, then you’ve noticed former House Speaker Pro Tem Doug Smith’s name at the top of it.

Ryggs will square off against sitting Chairman Rick Beltram at the county convention Tuesday night.

I asked Smith why he was getting involved.

“It matters to rank-and-file Republicans who are obviously very concerned about our local county party,” Smith said. “If a county party chairman wants to be in politics, they ought to run for office. The job of the party chairman is totally different from elected political office. Their job is to run the county party, to encourage grass root rank-and-file support, support party candidates, put on vibrant primaries, get the best candidates, and support the party platform. It is not to be the chief media hound. And, unfortunately, I think Rick Beltram might be a fine person — I don’t know him all that well — and I commend him for his years of service… But the problem is Rick generally can’t find a way to get along with the elected officials. He and I have had run-in after run-in after run-in.”

Smith added that Beltram had admitted to trying to find opposition to run against him while he held elected office and accused Beltram of making disparaging statements about him when he resigned from office last year.

“I’ve got a long memory when it comes to things like that,” Smith said. “… And I will not forget and I will repay the favor.”

Beltram called this “illusionary thinking” and a “total fabrication.”

The two have long been at odds with one another, with an on-again, off-again feud that goes back about a decade. Beltram said it all started when Smith wouldn’t endorse the GOP state Senate nominee in 2000 — who happened to be Steve Parker, a longtime Beltram ally and current state representative.

Beltram also denied trying to recruit opposition for Smith. He said he gets along with most elected officials just fine, pointing out that many of them have speaking parts at tomorrow night’s convention.

By the way, I updated this on Twitter, but in case you missed it, Attorney General Henry McMaster, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer — all candidates or likely candidates for the 2010 Republican gubernatorial nomination — will be addressing the county convention.

Longtime Republican activist Mike Dixon announced this weekend that he, too, is seeking the position of state committeeman when the Spartanburg County GOP convention is held Tuesday.

The current state committeeman -- that's the person who has the vote for this county at state GOP executive committee meetings -- is LaDonna Ryggs. Ryggs is giving up the spot to run against sitting county GOP Chairman Rick Beltram for his seat.

The committeeman job in Spartanburg, I'm told, has traditionally included handling precinct reorganization. I'm told that by Beltram, who has criticized his opponent for failing in that task. Ryggs, on the other hand, has said she was excluded from reorganization planning.

Anyway, Dixon faces MaryAnn Riley, a county GOP fixture and strong Beltram ally, and Doug Cobb, a Republican activist whose wife, Nicole, helped run several recent primary campaigns -- probably most notably, Rep. Joey Millwood's. Cobb's candidacy was announced along with Ryggs'.

What does this mean? Probably not too much in the chairman's race. But this potentially splits the anti-Beltram vote in the committeeman's race.

Like his peers, Dixon has his own list of activist credentials. But the thing I remember most about him is when, a day before the South Carolina 2008 Republican primary, he called Beltram a "terrorist" at a GOP banquet at the Marriott. He said he was a surrogate, there to speak for then-candidate Duncan Hunter. After his comments, he was allowed to speak.

And, yes, I realize this is way into the realm of inside baseball.

Bits and bites from the Spartanburg County GOP chairman’s race. Current Chairman Rick Beltram is facing current Committeeman LaDonna Ryggs. This is sort of a stream-of-consciousness post, but I think a couple of common themes will be apparent.

Most of this is based on Monday night’s brief forum, supplemented by a few interviews (or public statements) made since.

Let’s start with opening statements. Beltram went first, and drew the following analogy:

“How many times during this last election did you hear the word change? Change. We have to have change. And when we got President Obama, did you like the change you got? Not one hand. Well, folks, change isn’t good. We’ve got to be careful that we’re not changing for the sake of changing, when in fact what we have is working and we want to move forward and not change for the sake of change, because we might get something much worse.”

He continued with an anecdote about the upcoming special election in Cherokee County to fill the seat of the late state Rep. Olin Phillips, a Democrat. Phillips’ son-in-law is the Democratic nominee in the race. Steve Moss is the Republican nominee. Beltram said he donated $500 to the Moss campaign from the party. Tuesday, he repeated this story, and asked for a show of hands if anyone thought that was inappropriate. No one did.

“We have an opportunity to win that race and put another Republican in the Statehouse,” Beltram said. “I went up to Gaffney, and I pledged the full support of the Spartanburg County Republican Party to win that seat. We even took them a little check to get them started.”

He added: “That’s where we can get going with the grass roots today. We don’t have to wait until ‘10. We can get started today.”

Ryggs introduced herself by reading a poem that’s a favorite of her father, a Baptist minister, about being careful to advertise only when you had the goods to deliver.

“We have the goods,” Ryggs said. “We have to be spreading our conservative message everywhere we go, and why our party is the place to be for conservatives who want to make a difference. It’s our party — not the Libertarian Party, not the Constitution Party, but the Republican Party — where conservatives can make a difference.”

She continued: “Our cause is freedom. We must stand united as Republicans around the things that unite us as Republicans. We have a very fractured party here in Spartanburg and across the nation. The county party is the backbone of the national party. Each county party makes a difference.”

An audience member asked the two about the fractures within the party, and how they would heal it. This time, Ryggs went first.

“There are several factions,” she said. “You have people who are more to the moderate side, You have people who are on the far right of conservatism, You have the young. You have those involved in various groups and organizations. My belief is that you pull all of them together and unite them around the causes they believe in. …If you saw my committee to elect me, you might have noticed there are people who probably won’t talk to each other on that list. That’s because they understand we have to come together as a party and fight hard for the things we believe in.”

Beltram began by showing pictures of the county party headquarters. He said rent is $350 per month. He pays half — he runs his business out of one of the offices in the building — and the county party pays half. He then criticized a local blog (not by name, but it’s Kerry Wood’s Upstate Update) for saying the headquarters was in the “ghetto” and that the Country Hearth Inn, where the last few GOP meetings have been held, was in the “slums.”

“It’s that kind of talk within our party that creates fracture,” Beltram said. “And I need to, as chairman of the party…  I need to call out those people, because they don’t do any good. They hurt our party every day they put out blogs. It’s pure trash. And it’s hurting the party.”

So I called Wood this afternoon for a response.

“He’s been trashing me all over the place. You’d think he was running against me they way he’s been attacking me,” Wood said. He said he didn’t think his blog comments were hurting the party.

“Quite honestly, I think everything that Rick has been doing has been hurting the party. He’s been very, in my opinion, exclusive. He wants absolutely everything to run through him. He doesn’t want anybody to help do anything unless he approves it.”

Before Monday night was over (and Beltram did this again Tuesday night, when Ryggs had a prior engagement and wasn’t able to be there to defend herself), Beltram criticized his opponent for failing to do her duties as state committeeman, which he says includes handling the reorganization of precincts and providing content for the monthly newsletter.

Beltram went last, but I had a chance to speak with Ryggs outside to get her response. In the odd case you’ve read this far and aren’t aware of it, I’ll point out that Beltram is also seeking state Republican Party chairmanship.

Anyway. “It is a family squabble,” Ryggs began.

“I was at one meeting. A planning meeting. It was supposed to be planning for the convention and reorganization. I got there, and it was a campaign meeting for Rick — for county, for state. I have not been invited back since I made my neutrality known in the state party race. I have not been invited, I have not even been informed. I’m assuming they’ve had officer’s meetings, that they’ve had other meetings, because things have been planned. But I have not been there.”

She added that she would have been more than willing to help with reorganization because it would have helped her campaign to become county party chairman.

Beltram, today, said that he had received “no e-mails, phone calls, faxes or twitters” — yes, he said twitters — “or anything else suggesting she would like to take a role in these procedures.” He said the Jan. 31 meeting Ryggs referenced was for the “expressed” purpose of being a campaign meeting.

Clearly, the two have different recollections of the day.

And, yes, there's still more to come.

Busy couple of day in local politics. The two candidates for Spartanburg County GOP Chairman — Rick Beltram, who currently holds the seat, and LaDonna Ryggs, currently the county party’s representative on the state level — met for a brief forum Monday night at the west-side public library. (And by brief, I mean opening statements, three two questions from the audience and closing statements.) About 30 people were there. This was a precinct-level meeting.

I’m working on transcribing my notes from that event -- and from last night's lengthy meeting -- but I wanted to go ahead and post this, as I was able to speak with Ryggs about it after the Monday event. Ryggs is the administrative assistant to the director of publishing at Bob Jones University.

When I found out she was entering the county chairman’s race, Bob Jones University didn’t enter my mind. But then there was a meeting of about 300 activists, the makeup day for reorganization of precincts, and I was able to chat with several people. A few mentioned the Bob Jones factor as a concern -- a concern that the school was attempting to expand its political influence past the Greenville County line.

It kind of caught me off guard. I mean, you hear about this in Greenville politics sometimes -- i.e. Bob Jones is trying to control x seats on city council or is trying to control the direction of that county’s Republican Party organization or some such -- but here, not so much. I only follow Greenville politics peripherally, though, so I can’t speak to how much of that is speculation.

Ryggs has a long list of credentials within the party (both candidates do, but this is about Ryggs), and she doesn’t list the fact that she works at Bob Jones University among them.

As she put it, “You don’t hear me get up and say, ‘I’m LaDonna Ryggs and I work at Bob Jones.’ ” And that’s true. She hasn’t been running on the fact, and she hasn’t been hiding from it. She doesn’t believe her place of employment will be a factor in this race, and she says she has always separated what she does for the party with what she does as a private citizen.

“I haven’t even told them that I’m running,” she said. “I will. And it’s no big deal. I am a party officer. But that’s not something that they’ve ever asked me about. They know I’m Republican, and they know I’m very involved. And they’re excited for me. They’re excited I take my politics very seriously.”

I mentioned the gist of the comments I’d heard to Beltram. He called it a “personal situation.”

“That’s the same to me as people who said they couldn’t vote for Mitt Romney because he was Mormon. I find that kind of conversation reprehensible,” he said.

So, that seems to be the end of that.

It’ll be interesting to watch the race between Rick Beltram and LaDonna Ryggs play out.

The two are (so far) the only announced candidates for Spartanburg County Republican Party chairman. Beltram currently holds the seat; Ryggs currently represents this county on the state GOP executive committee.

I asked Ryggs this week why she was running. She ran through her credentials, what she thought she could bring to the table — things like team-building, transparency and a good working relationship with elected officials and the state party — and stressed the need for county chairmen to stay neutral during Republican primaries. She made it a point to say that she will not recruit challengers to run against Republican incumbents. And she talked about growing the party.

“The idea is that you’re propelling it (the county party) forward, that you want to move Spartanburg forward. It’s not taking anything away from what’s there or what’s been done, it’s bringing people back who used to be there and bringing new people in — using new technology and other methods to bring people in.”

She continued: “2010 is extremely important. The No. 1 focus will not be to sit on our hands. It will be to re-elect Jim DeMint, and by the largest margin possible. He’s our champion in the Senate. But he’s out there all alone sometimes. And the other focus will be to continue (Gov. Mark) Sanford’s agenda of conservative government and government reform. He can’t run again, but whoever is in his place needs to make sure that agenda pushes forward. And we have to make sure it is a conservative Republican who gets in. And so far, from who I’ve seen is running, it will be.”

The sitting-on-the-hands reference begged for a response.

Said Beltram: “First, we talk about not taking a position in a primary, and then she turns around and endorses Jim DeMint — who may have a primary. Second, the new people we have coming in are doing so because of the product we’ve delivered. As far as recruiting people against incumbents, of course, that’s nothing I’ve ever done.”

He continued: “The main thing is she’s already endorsing Jim DeMint before there’s even been a primary. So she contradicts her own statement. The other thing is our (state) party chairman was pretty clear about not having elected officials interfere in our process, and Jim DeMint turned around and completely ignored our chairman. And we, as county party chairmen, work more for our state party chairman than we do elected officials. And the final thing is, everything I’ve just heard is directly out of the Kevin Hall playbook. When we’re on the campaign trail, both Karen and myself talk about DeMint shouldn’t have gotten involved in our process, and Kevin says the opposite.”

Hall has said he’s staying out of county party races and wishes both Beltram and Ryggs the best.

I imagine if you’ve made it this far into the blog, you’re familiar with what Beltram is referring to regarding DeMint. If not, click here.

As I was talking with Beltram, he faxed over an agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting.

In large type at the bottom of the page: “URGENT NOTE!!! ALL PRECINCTS MUST BE PRESENT TO CURE ANY IRREGULARITIES IN RE-ORGANIZATION PACKETS TO COMPLETE CREDENTIALS FOR COUNTY CONVENTION.”

As noted already, Beltram is trying to force a debate with Ryggs Tuesday. She has prior commitments that night.

I’m by no means an expert on party rules, but I believe only precinct presidents (or vice-presidents) and secretaries need to be present in case of irregularities. Again, I'm not sure. I asked Beltram what he meant by “irregularities,” and he said missing signatures or forms, problems with voter identification numbers and “handwriting issues” could all constitute being irregular. I asked why he didn’t make a list of precincts that had issues available now (or at least before Tuesday night) so people could take care of whatever needs taking care of, and he said it would take that long to finish going through all the paperwork and compile a list.

Now, I’m not trying to put words in anyone’s mouth, but it seems likely Beltram’s opponents will look at this with high degree of suspicion — with the idea that he’s trying to stack the deck, or exclude people from the process. After all, there has been (and continues to be) an organized effort to remove him from office. And part of that effort involved getting people out to precinct organization so that they could be delegates to the county, and possibly state, convention.

When confronted with this, Beltram said, “They can say what whatever they want to say — that we’re inaccurate, that we’re in the ghetto, whatever. Actually, it’s just the opposite. This procedure is to make sure people are not excluded. ...This is an attempt a week before the convention to make sure no one gets thrown out.”

I haven't had a chance to talk with Ryggs since getting the announcement. But because it could potentially affect a few hundred people, I wanted to put something out there. 

And wait, there’s more,

The Republican president of the West View B Precinct has called a meeting Monday night and invited Beltram and Ryggs. He said both have given him verbal confirmation they will be there. Both will be allowed to make brief opening and closing statements, and “a few” questions will be asked. It’s at the west-side library at 525 Oak Grove Road. The venue seats about 100 people, and preference will be given to county delegates.

Still, Beltram said, “That doesn’t include the party as a whole, The only fair thing is for all the candidates to show up the next night.”

To be continued, I’m sure.

(By the way, I'm basically blogging about this between working on stories for the paper or from home. If you want to weigh in on this -- and potentially be quoted -- feel free to call me at 864-562-7214 or e-mail jason.spencer@shj.com.)

It’s a wild time to be involved in Republican politics in this corner of South Carolina.

About 300 people packed into the Country Hearth Inn last night, trying to organize their precincts and begin the process of having a say in county and state party leadership. And an estimated 300 people organized earlier this month, in parking lots or anywhere else they could find due to snow- and ice-covered roads.

Spartanburg County GOP Chairman Rick Beltram spent much of the first part of the night screaming into a half-working microphone, trying to corral people from about 80 (out of 92) precincts together to organize. Some in the crowd were disgusted. Others were confused. I heard the phrase "organized chaos" bandied about several times. Most simply wanted to get on with it, get their paperwork filled out and get home.

Beltram is at the center of a political maelstrom right now. He’s seeking re-election as county party chairman -- the vote is April 7 -- and he’s also touring the state in a quest to win chairmanship of the South Carolina Republican Party. The state GOP convention is in May.

He’s facing opposition on both fronts. So far, LaDonna Ryggs, the sitting committeeman for the county GOP and immediate past president of the S.C. Federation of Republican Women, is running against Beltram for his county seat. Gary Coats, head of the local Young Republicans group, is looking at the numbers and deciding whether he wants jump in. At least one other name has been floated.

The statewide race, which has gotten more attention -- though, frankly, it hasn’t gotten as much as I’d have thought -- pits Beltram against Columbia attorney Kevin Hall and Spartanburg businesswoman Karen Floyd.

One strategy that’s playing out is an attempt to knock Beltram out on the county level. The thinking behind this is that would hurt his viability as a statewide candidate.

“The only one who wins if I’m not county chairman is Kevin Hall. Because I’m nullified, and that puts the state party chairmanship in his hands,” Beltram said. “...This is all about Kevin Hall trying to cut me off at the knees.”

(Just a reminder, Beltram has said that if he wins both races, he’ll pick a day about 90 days out to abdicated the county throne so candidates for that seat can mount a campaign.)

Local activist and political consultant Kerry Wood agreed that the anti-Beltram sentiment is causing some people to get involved. Variouos factions are aligning with a single purpose.

But, he said, Hall is sending out materials to people on the precinct level across the state, as anyone in that race should be doing.

“Kevin knows what we’re already doing here, so he doesn’t have to do anything,” Wood said.

Wood added that once Floyd announced she was running, it was clear that the best way oust Beltram was to not cause like-minded activists to choose between her and Hall. There are individuals pushing for one or the other, but the overall effort to remove Beltram from his county seat is one that is hands-off in the state race. For now.

“I’m sure, after the county race is over with, the camps will divide, But we’re all on the same page in this round,” he said.

As for Hall’s master plan, Hall said today, “Rick gives me way too much credit. There are executive committee and chairman’s races in counties all over the state. And I wouldn’t get into the middle of them if my life depended on it. Spartanburg County’s not the only county with open races. It’s common across the state.”

So, on the county level, there are currently two forces for the activists to coalesce around: Beltram and Ryggs.

Beltram has been trying to force a debate with Ryggs since she announced late last week. He’s been blasting e-mails left and right, calling a meeting Tuesday night (March 31).

Ryggs said her schedule won’t allow her to make either of the times Beltram has proposed for a debate that night -- she has a speaking engagement at 7 p.m. -- and said she isn’t entirely comfortable with a participant in a debate being one of the organizers. And, Beltram, following state party rules, wanted to open that night up for any last-minute delegates to sign up for the upcoming convention(s). Ryggs, citing the state code of laws, said that he can’t do that. (The party rules and the code of laws differ. Sounds like an easy housecleaning measure for the Legislature or state party to take up, but neither is likely to do so in time to have an impact here.)

Ryggs said she is willing to debate Beltram, but added, “Rick has been with the county party for 15 years or more. I have been with the county party for 10 years... Most of the people in the county party know us, They know our record, They know our work. We really don’t need a debate. This is a referendum on Rick Beltram.”

She's also questioned whether calling all of the activists out again -- after two relatively large gatherings recently, and the county convention on the horizon -- is asking too much of them. She said she's looking forward to meeting and speaking with them one-on-one or in small groups.

After several phone calls today, it appears the Beltram and Ryggs may have a chance to speak in a forum-like setting at some point next week -- perhaps, even Tuesday night -- but nothing has been confirmed enough for me to announce it here. Ryggs said she's more comfortable when a third party organizes such an event.

Beltram is going forward with a legal notice for his meeting Tuesday, he said. He’s removed the delegate sign-up section of the meeting, but says he will go forward with a debate between candidates for state committeeman (that’s the person who represents the county on the state GOP executive committee -- there are at least two candidates I know of), and go over details for the April convention. He says there also will be a discussion on inclusion and exclusion.

“The meeting will go on,” he said. “This debate has to be in front of delegates to the county convention. Otherwise, it’s a sham.”

He added: “We have a lot of new people in the party. A lot of people don’t know what the chairman does. I don’t think our records have been discussed at all in public. And we need to be able to be asked questions by people in the room. The delegates to the county convention need to have the opportunity to have a real debate prior to the convention so a simple two- or three-minute speech at the convention isn’t going to sway anyone’s vote. Rick Beltram is not afraid of his record, and Rick Beltram believes a debate is the only fair thing for the Spartanburg County Republican Party.”

I asked Beltram if he thought his approach to having a debate could be seen as bullying his opponent. (It seemed a legitimate question considering he attached personal e-mails between himself and Ryggs to next week’s meeting announcement.)

“I hope it’s being seen as I remember the open hostility toward Lindsey Graham when he wouldn’t debate Buddy Witherspoon.” Beltram said. “And the same people who were pretty much on Buddy Witherspoon team are pretty much against me. So, it’s interesting in one case an incumbent like Lindsey Graham won’t debate a challenger, but to think for a challenger to ignore a debate with the incumbent is inappropriate or is bullying? No. I would think she would applaud my efforts to be out there and spend time debating a challenger.”

Asked about his support for Ryggs, Wood said, “I know her to be conservative and I know her to be honest. LaDonna doesn’t have it in herself to manipulate anyone.”

I should point out that not everyone is part of one faction or another. I talked with activists last night who are supporting Beltram for the county spot but Floyd for state chair, for instance. There are those supporting Ryggs’ county bid and are indifferent to whether that hurts Beltram’s state chances. There are people publicly supporting candidates who say privately they will vote differently.

Ryggs, in a phone interview today, said, "I've been publicly neutral in the state race... and I intend to stay that way. If elected chair, I believe you have to stay that way. I don’t know that us taking Rick out helps Kevin. I don’t know that it helps Karen. I don’t know that it makes a difference. This is about us giving our county party back to the people."

I had a long conversation with Ryggs, and between that and the notes I’m still wading through from the state GOP chairman candidate’s forum, there’s tons more to say. There’s a lot the candidates have to say about issues, about the party platform, about the way the party organizations are run. But as Wood’s comment above indicates, these candidates’ personal qualities, characteristics, methods and personalities seem like they’ll be just as much of a factor as delegates cement their support.

I’ll try to get into this further later this week.

Edit: Title change and some minor additions at 8:39 p.m.

Despite a snow-covered Spartanburg and the dangers of black ice on the road, the Spartanburg County Republican Party, at first glance, seems to have done well with its biennial precinct reorganization.

The blandly named “precinct reorganization” isn’t exclusive to party activists – Democrats and Republicans alternate the years they do it – but it is the front door to any registered voter who wants to have a say in county or state party leadership and/or present resolutions that could affect their state party’s platform.

Monday morning, when I was making calls about things I cover, trying to determine what was cancelled and what wasn’t, I was told that reorganization – advertised on the radio for the past week – would go on. Organization is largely a formal process, but a necessary one, to elect precinct officers and file the appropriate paperwork to become a county and/or state delegate – i.e. to have a vote at the county or state conventions, which are in April and May, respectively.

Because of the weather, I was told a makeup meeting was planned for 7 p.m. Monday, March 23, at the Country Hearth Inn for all 92 precincts. I posted that on Twitter and TalkUpstate.

In the end, though, county Republican Party Chairman Rick Beltram says 78 of 92 precincts have been organized so far. Not bad, considering two years ago, on the verge of a contentious presidential primary, the county GOP organized 88 precincts after the makeup meeting.

But here’s the kicker: At least some of the precincts were organized by people for the main purpose of unseating Beltram.  I could see a lengthy and likely uninteresting debate about party rules grow out of this, but that’s the initial impression. The comparison to this county's two legislative delegations already has been made.

When asked, activist Gary Coats agreed that Monday night was a glimpse of a larger effort to make someone else Spartanburg County GOP chairman. When asked if he would be a candidate challenging Beltram, he would neither confirm nor deny his interest in the seat.

Coats is an up-and-comer in local Republican politics. He’s one of the Ron Paul activists who first got involved during the presidential primary – except he’s stayed particularly active. He’s been involved in party politics, volunteered to run Rep. Steve Parker’s Statehouse campaign, and I think he goes to every “Let’s Talk” that U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis has (though not necessarily because he agrees with Inglis). He seemed to be getting closer and closer to the county GOP inner circle until he recently severed that relationship on his blog, The Conservativist.

Beltram has been county party chairman since 1999. He’s faced serious opposition for his seat a few times, perhaps most notably from Spartanburg businesswoman Karen Floyd. Beltram is seeking re-election to his county post, but is also running against Floyd for state GOP chairman (along with Columbia attorney Kevin Hall). Beltram has said that if he’s successful on both fronts, he’ll announce a date about 90 days out after assuming state chairmanship that he will give up his county position. The extra time is for county chairman candidates to mount a campaign and have a chance to debate, he said.

Coats – currently the chairman of the Spartanburg Young Republicans – has called the county re-election a referendum on Beltram’s leadership. Beltram has said the impact of the county party race depends on how it plays out.

The anti-Beltram crowd was skeptical of the makeup meeting for reorganization, thinking it was a way to discourage them from showing up Monday night.

(I should point out that I don’t know whether Beltram will face one or more than one challenger for county chair.)

Beltram has already said that some precinct organizers had photocopies of the necessary paperwork rather than the originals issued by the party. I mention this because it seems to be an indicator of some of the hair-splitting going into the minutiae of party rules that could erupt.

Another red flag: There’s been an indication that Parker and activist Paul Jansen (another Ron Paul-ler, though one who breaks with the congressman on certain issues) had words at the reorganization meeting for Boiling Springs B, which has polls at Oakland Elementary School. The school was closed due to the weather, so Jansen instituted a move to a nearby grocery store to fill out the paperwork.

Parker, the sitting precinct president of Boiling Springs B, showed up and said he didn’t want to organize Monday night because he didn’t want to leave out people who couldn’t make it. Jansen said he didn’t realize this, but was OK with it. Parker says the two had a “cordial and congenial” conversation. Jansen said they had a “spirited and frank exchange of views” on a variety of issues, particularly school choice and the federal stimulus package.

Beltram said several precincts opted to have their meetings at alternate locations because the weather forced closings. Some moved to restaurants, for instance. He said, “Despite the weather, there was still a lot of people – new people.” Officially, he attributed the turnout to the $3,000 the Spartanburg and Greenville County Republican parties have spent on radio advertisements.

But as the night played out, Beltram agreed there was an organized effort to unseat him.

“I’ve known that for a while. And tonight we got to see that,” he said Monday. He added that he wasn’t worried about facing opposition for his county seat.

There’s more, but we’re already way into the realm of inside baseball. My question is, how much do you, the reader, care about this? If you want us to continue to devote time to following this, let me know by posting here or e-mailing jason.spencer@shj.com.

Either way, the game’s afoot.

Edit 2:42 p.m. - Beltram just called to clarify a point he made last night (when I was writing this). He now says that 78 of 92 precincts were "supposed" to organize last night. Paperwork is still coming in. So far, he has received documents from 33 precincts. I asked if he was accepting the photocopied packets, as opposed to the county party-issued originals, and he said, "Yes."

Our story on the seven county officials being sworn into office last night focused primarily on the two newcomers to local politics. But I'd be remiss not to mention one of the returning officials -- Solicitor Trey Gowdy, who was unopposed in last year's primary and general election.

There's long been speculation that Gowdy will seek the job of attorney general. In fact, after his brief speech last night, four people made comments that he seemed to be fueling that.

Gowdy spoke about the need for "a broader conversation" regarding the criminal justice system in Spartanburg and South Carolina. He touched on the problems with repeat offenders, the dropout rate and vehicular homicide. Later, during an interview, he added the high rate of domestic violence to the list, along with the need for "truth and transparency" in sentencing and in the way grand juries operate, and that he opposes mandatory minimums for drug cases.

"We can have a criminal justice system that is a model for the rest of the country," he told the crowd.

And, later, "If you agree with the presmise that public safey is the preeminent function of goverment, and see that we rank as poorly as we do, don't you think it's time to take a systemic ... review?"

Gowdy said that he didn't mean for his remarks to sound like a precursor to a stump speech for attorney general. He said it was simply a version of a speech he often gives.

When asked about his future aspirations, he said much of the speculation has come about because people see that as the next rung on the political ladder. He pointed out that sitting Attorney General Henry McMaster hasn't announced that he's giving up his seat to run for governor ("Yet," I told him). And he said the well-being of his family was first and foremost in his mind.

He would not rule out a future run. But, he did say, "You don't have to be in a statewide office to start a statewide conversation." And, "The notion that I'm the only person to lead this conversation is ridiculous."

He named a few people in politics he respects -- Walt Wilkins, Reggie Lloyd, Tommy Pope -- and said that he valued his friendship with them more than he did any higher office.

"Friendships don't often survive political campaigns," he said.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this plays out.

Spartanburg County Council Chairman Jeff Horton recently told me that he's working on a letter that he'll send to his colleagues over the holidays asking them to listen to a tape of this month's meeting and determine if that sounds like an efficient governing body.

Chances are, it won't. Perhaps it will cause a light bulb to go off above some of the newer faces on Council.

This month's drawn-out meeting featured Councilman Dale Culbreth talking about how much he and a friend of his were going to have to pay in taxes and O'Neal Mintz talking about a neighbor of his who likes to hear roosters crow, among other topics that were only related to the matter at hand peripherally.

Horton agrees that some of the elected officials' questions could've been answered by county staff beforehand, leaving more time for people who had legitimate reasons to speak before them.

"A lot of the commentary was probably unnecessary," Horton said. "A lot of that could have been averted."

He went further saying that old hands like himself, Councilman David Britt and outgoing Councilman Rock Adams probably were able to grasp more of the subject matter Council deals with more quickly. (More on that in a story about Adams which should run in the paper any day now.)

Horton was, in a way, responding to some of the observations noted in my last post regarding the county's one-meeting-per-month setup. We didn't get into some of the finer points -- heck, we were both busy at the time -- but it's always good to see elected officials reading and taking comments and criticism seriously.