This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 5, 2013 - St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin, who lost his GOP bid this fall for Missouri attorney general, came roaring back Saturday by getting elected as the new chairman of the Missouri Republican Party.
Martin narrowly defeated current chairman David Cole, 34-32, on the second round of balloting by the 68-member state GOP committee, the state party confirmed. One member was not seated due to residency issues, thus was barred from voting. Another member cast an uncounted vote in the second round for an unnominated candidate.
The vote took place Saturday morning at a hotel in Columbia, Mo.
The third contender for the post, outgoing state Sen. Jane Cunningham of Chesterfield, was out of the running after garnering only seven votes on the first ballot, which saw Martin collect 32 votes and Cole, 27.
Said Martin in a statement after the vote:
“Today’s competition was the sign of a vibrant and mature party. Our success in electing Republicans across the state—in widening the tent—has created an influx of new ideas and energy , but it’s clear that there is still work yet to be done. I look forward to working with the members of the state committee, our volunteers, activists, and donors as we take our conservative message to Missourians from across the state and from all walks of life. Working together, I know we will protect what we have built and strengthen our party in preparation for 2014 and beyond.”
The state party chairman traditionally focuses on money-raising, and in overseeing behind-the-scenes efforts to prevent nasty internal disputes from going public, to keep major donors happy, and to discourage expensive primary battles.
The party chairman also controls the state party's apparatus and staff.
Win for conservatives, loss for establishment
Cole’s loss appears to be a setback for Missouri’s GOP establishment. U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and all six Missouri Republicans in the U.S. House had signed a letter backing Cole’s re-election.
Martin’s win was seen as a victory for the Missouri GOP’s more conservative factions, including some tea party groups – notably the St. Louis Tea Party, whose founder Bill Hennessy had endorsed Martin.
Tweeted former state Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, shortly after the vote: “Congrats to Ed Martin. Conservatives win and the moderate establishment loses.”
New state House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka and an outspoken conservative, lauded Martin’s victory, tweeting that Martin was a “dedicated public servant, common-sense conservative.”
Later, Jones issued a statement saying, in part, “As speaker of the House, I look forward to working with Chairman Martin to strengthen the Republican Party and prepare for the 2014 elections."
Missouri Democrats, however, signaled that their camp sees Martin's election as an opportunity to highlight differences.
Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders, the state Democratic Party chairman, said in a statement,“While Ed Martin may have finally won an election today, it should be no comfort to Missourians that the most extreme elements of our state’s Republican party are now firmly in control. Missourians won’t soon forget Ed Martin’s highly controversial and ethically challenged past, and it’s significant that someone with such an extreme history will now be the voice of Missouri Republicans."
"In the coming days, the Missouri Democratic Party will seek to highlight key examples by which Martin’s extreme politics have deviated from the values of mainstream Missourians," the party's release added.
Democratic activists already were tweeting Saturday a slightly doctored Republican campaign photo that features Martin locked in a pro-GOP chain of candidates, including unsuccessful -- and controversial -- U.S. Senate nominee Todd Akin.
Rick Perry, Rand Paul help Martin
Martin also may have gotten a boost from Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who called members of the state GOP committee on Thursday or Friday.
In addition, Martin recently had forged alliances with several new state committee members who were backers of former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and his son, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. The Paul forces had snagged the seats during the August statewide primaries, which saw the elections of regional party posts.
Rand Paul had campaigned for Martin last fall.
Sources say that Cole also was hurt because a number of veteran Republican committee members had retired or lost their seats last summer either by losing re-election or because they had been drawn out of their districts, which mesh with the state’s 34 redrawn state Senate districts.
Meanwhile, state Auditor Tom Schweich – who is up for re-election in 2014 – also appeared to score a victory Saturday. His chief of staff, Trish Vincent, was elected vice chair of the state party.
“We have rebuilding to do in upcoming years, and I look forward to working with Ed and the rest of the state committee leadership team to strengthen the Republican Party and communicate our vision across the state of Missouri,” Schweich said in a statement that congratulated Martin and Vincent.
Email controversy hasn't hurt Martin's career
Vincent and Martin have a past in common – both served as chiefs of staff, at different times, to Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican. Blunt hired Vincent after Martin resigned in 2007, amid a growing controversy at the time over office emails that Martin had deleted or ordered to be destroyed.
Martin ended up in the middle of an investigation in 2007 and 2008 launched by a team set up by then-Attorney General Jay Nixon (now governor), and as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Scott Eckersley, a young lawyer in Blunt’s office who claimed to have been fired by Martin after warning that destroying the emails appeared to violate the state’s laws on the preservation of state records.
Martin denied any wrongdoing, although the state settled the suit with Eckersley.
The episode didn’t hurt Martin’s political career. He ran an aggressive, and almost successful, campaign in 2010 for the 3rd District congressional seat then held by Democratic incumbent Russ Carnahan (who lost his post during the 2011 redistricting).
And in 2012, Martin attracted some support from major GOP donors – including David Humphreys of Joplin – during his failed bid to unseat Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat (and former Republican) expected to run for governor in 2016.
Martin also served as the state chairman of the Missouri Republican Party’s statewide campaign to help its entire ticket.
Even so, Cole had taken the brunt of the criticism for the state GOP’s lackluster showing. The only statewide Republican to win was Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, despite the fact that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had carried the state by 10 percentage points.
Cunningham had been outspoken in calling for a new direction for the state party. But it appears that Martin was far more successful in making his case that he was the one to lead that effort.
Aside from running for office, Martin also has a strong background of fighting for conservative causes. He is a former director of the Human Rights Office for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, a former clerk at the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and has been active in lawsuits against abortion rights. Martin represented some pharmacists in Illinois who opposed a state requirement that they stock contraceptives, including the so-called “morning after pill.”
Before running Blunt’s gubernatorial office, Martin also had served a Blunt-appointed stint as chairman of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners. Martin's revamping of office operations won praise from St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, a Democrat.
