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Dear Fellow Republicans,

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We realize that the original vote to unseat Pickens County at the State Convention and the vote to suspend Pickens County at the State EC meeting in June were both conducted with limited information, time and under chaotic situations. These circumstances made a truly informed decision impossible.  In the past months, Pickens County leadership and other parties have been able to collate a significant amount of information regarding this challenge, which was the sole basis for suspension.  A summary of these findings is as follows:​​

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Chris Clark Formal Complaint Summary

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The challenger, Chris Clark from Pickens County, placed third in the chairmanship election by a margin of 12 votes to the second-place finisher. Her challenge regarding that election claimed that delegates were denied registration, voting ability, and ability to attend convention are shown to be unsubstantiated and did not affect the outcome of the election.  In addition, no formal complaint was lodged at the County Convention and the PCRP credentialing report was accepted unanimously with no discussion.

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Finally, there were additional unsubstantiated claims made outside this formal complaint including that “hundreds” of people were not allowed into the County Convention (there has been absolutely no information provided supporting that claim) and that Bennett Connelly and his wife were denied access to their Precinct Reorganization Meeting.  A volunteer worker, Alesa Pinkerton, talked to this couple while they were in line at Reorg and has documented that they left before checking in because they 1) just wanted to vote and did not have time for the 2 hour meeting and 2) wanted to vote for the County Chairman and state delegates which was not occurring at Reorg.  Again, these were loud, vocal claims made against the PCRP in public forums that are just not correct and potentially vindictive.

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It is important to note that there were 55 individual precinct meetings at Reorganization, all conducted by their own officers. None of these 137 duly elected Pickens County precinct officers or the meetings they held have been the subject of a formal complaint, yet all of these elected officials and their members are being disenfranchised.  We ask that you consider the information presented here and over the last several months by both Pickens leadership and outside parties as you consider the steps for Pickens County to exit this suspension. Please visit our website Pickens Republicans Stand United for additional details.

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My fellow SCGOP leaders, imagine if this happened to your county:  a last minute allegation is made against it, there is inadequate time to verify the truth of the complaint or even discuss the details before a decision is required at the State Credentialing Committee, you are suspended based on limited and incorrect information in a chaotic meeting, and stating the facts once they are collected showing that the alleged rules violations are incorrect is ignored.  On top of that, accepting these false allegations would not just disenfranchise a few party members but all county party members who followed the rules, participated in the process, and voted in the county election. 

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You will understand that we have no other alternative than to ask the SCGOP, based on these facts, that Pickens County Republican Party (PCRP) have the suspension lifted and be fully restored to a seated and organized entity recognizing the 2025 duly elected leadership team and delegates.  As always, we welcome any members of the State Executive Committee to attend our county meetings and meet your fellow republicans.  

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Any other course of action, based on these facts, can only be interpreted as political retribution against the county, which has already been unjustly suspended for 2 months.  If President Trump had accepted the false charges against him as opposed to standing by the truth, he would be in jail, and we would have a completely different country right now.  We are all blessed and thankful that he stood strong in the breach.  In our many conversations with GOP members across Pickens County, it is clear that their will is also to stand strong against the charges facing us.

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We look forward to discussing this with you and restoring the SCGOP to a fully operating body.

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Sincerely,

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Pickens Republicans Stand United Leadership Team

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Cathy Davis, Rhonda Billingsley, Christy Wistar, Darlene Georgiades, Lauren Boyd & Melissa Bishop