Clarifications From Chairman Baugh Regarding Early Endorsements

I just received this email from Chairman Baugh. In it, he clarifies the situation regarding candidates receiving early endorsement consideration.

Dear Central Committee Members,



There have been several questions about our new endorsements process that I would like to clarify. First, the endorsement notice that I sent out yesterday is permitted by the rules. When our office receives an application for an endorsement, the By-Laws permit me to send the application to the endorsements committee or to the full committee. If I refer it to the full committee, I am required to provide seven days notice.


As you know, the endorsement night at the September meeting will be a fairly long meeting. Thus, in order to take some pressure off of that evening, I chose to refer several endorsements to the full committee for the August meeting. In order to take the mystery out of why somebody is on the list or not I want to share with you my thoughts.

First, did the candidate have the endorsement application submitted to me or Lauryn? Without the application, there is nothing to process. Assuming the application is covered, I then look to whether the committee knows the candidate, whether candidate is unopposed, whether the committee knows the other candidates if the applicant is opposed, along with applicants general philosophy, including the applicants view on public employee unions – among many other issues. Frankly, one of the “other” very practical issues is whether I believe the endorsement will be controversial and distracting without a sub-committee hearing. I do not want the August committee meeting to get bogged down with a debate to due inadequate vetting.

If you do not know the candidate that I have submitted for endorsement consideration, you can set an appointment with Lauryn and go over their application. You can also feel free to talk to them. I’m certain they will want to talk to you as you hold a key vote for them. Remember, each applicant still needs to get a 2/3 vote from the full committee.

If you know a candidate that wants to be considered for an endorsement, you should encourage them to file the application. The deadline is August 16. After I receive all of the new applications, I will consider noticing another special meeting of the full Central Committee in late August. Again, the purpose here is simply to take pressure off of what I expect will be a considerably lengthy September meeting. All other applications that do not get sent to the full body directly will be forwarded to the Endorsement Committee. There is no prejudice to an applicant for going through the Endorsement Committee. In fact, many applicants are better off going through the Endorsements Committee because a proper vetting and recommendation from that committee will help the applicant get the endorsement in the long run.

I recognize that getting the endorsement of the OCGOP is coveted, and the earlier the better for the candidates. However, the close of filing of August 6 (or later in some cases) presents a very tight calendar for us. Therefore, we are making every effort to process the applications quickly and fairly. The first order of business is to submit your application.