Republicans in Washington state are considering sacking James Allsup, a participant in last summer’s deadly “Unite the Right” rally who recently secured an elected position in Whitman County, a top GOP official said Tuesday.
Art Swannack, the state committeeman for the Whitman County Republican Party, said his colleagues will consider keeping Mr. Allsup from becoming the state GOP’s precinct committee officer for Precinct 129 in Whitman County despite successfully running unopposed for the position last month, local media reported.
“The executive committee is going to meet and see if we have the ability to not seat him,” Mr. Swannack told Spokane’s Inlander newspaper. “My understanding is he won the election, but the party has the right to choose whether or not we have to seat him.”
“I’m concerned with most of the things that James Allsup has said since the Charlottesville incident,” Mr. Swannack added. “I don’t believe he represents the Republican party.”
Mr. Allsup, 22, revealed in a social media post over the weekend that he successfully secured the GOP position, and the Whitman County auditor confirmed its authenticity in an article published by The Daily Beast earlier Tuesday detailing Mr. Allsup’s involvement with far-right activists, including his participation in the Aug. 2017 “Unite the Right” rally that resulted in the death of a counterprotester, Heather Heyer.
The precinct committee officer position Mr. Allsup secured is one of about 60 in Whitman County alone, and typically the job involves distributing campaign materials or voting for local GOP leadership, Mr. Swannack told Inlander.
“Essentially, Allsup wrote his name down on a piece of paper, declared himself a Republican, went unchallenged and won the seat,” Mr. Swannack told Inlander.
Pondering the possibility of being unseated, Mr. Allsup told Inlander: “I don’t believe that’s going to happen.”
The Whitman County GOP’s Central Committee is currently composed of four officials, including Mr. Swannack, who also serves as a commissioner for Whitman County. The local Republican Party’s next executive board meeting is currently slated for August 19, according to its website.
Mr. Allsup previously served as president of the Washington State College Republicans after resigning in the wake of the “Unite the Right” rally.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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