The Carroll County Republican Committee voted Sunday night to censure every Republican member of the House of Representatives who voted to impeach Donald Trump and every senator who voted to convict him on charges related to the Capitol protests of January 6th.
The resolution, passed by acclamation at a gathering in North Conway, notes the unique influence a New Hampshire county can have on GOP politics. It begins:
“WHEREAS, New Hampshire holds a unique position as home to the First in the Nation presidential primary; and
WHEREAS, Republican politicians from across the U.S. travel to New Hampshire regularly to test the waters for presidential campaigns, to attend events sponsored by County Committees of the New Hampshire Republican Party, including the Carroll County Republican Committee, and to otherwise further their political careers.”
The resolution then lists the offenders:
“From California, David Valadao; from Illinois, Adam Kinzinger; from Michigan, Peter Meijer and Fred Upton; from New York, John Katko; from Ohio, Anthony Gonzalez; from South Carolina, Tom Rice; Washington, Jamie Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse; and from Wyoming, Liz Cheney.
“And the following U.S. Senators: From Alaska, Lisa Murkowski; from Maine, Susan Collins; from Nebraska, Ben Sasse; from North Carolina, Richard Burr; from Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey; from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy; and from Utah, Mitt Romney.”
They specifically target Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, who have local connections. Romney owns property in Carroll County, and Collins represents Maine, a state that abuts the county.
While the event was not open to the public, one of the participants told NHJoural that passions on behalf of President Trump and against these “renegade” Republicans ran high Sunday night.
“Half of the members at the meeting were wearing MAGA hats,” said Max Ledoux, an associate committee member who drafted the censure resolution. “Donald Trump is very popular in Carroll County. There are still Trump yard signs everywhere. I saw them all along Route 16 on my way to the meeting.”
Carroll County GOP Committee chair Frank McCarthy told the gathered throng, “It’s time to have a backbone and stand up for what we believe is right.”
The resolution calls for the Republican lawmakers to resign from Congress. It also pledges that the county committee “will withhold all future political funding from and all future invitations to speak at or attend any event organized by the Committee to all of the above-named Republican members of the U.S. Congress.” This ban is particularly targeted at Romney, who “is not welcome to participate in political events hosted by The Carroll County Committee.”
According to Ledoux, one of the committee members — an elected official in the county — compared Romney’s vote for impeachment to robbing a bank. “He said, ‘If Romney had robbed a bank, then we would censure him for breaking the law. And what he did here is similar because he did break the law. He violated the Constitution, which is worse than robbing a bank.'”
A majority of committee members expressed their agreement, Ledoux said.
