AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n
Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n The North Carolina Republican Party recently added an eligibility requirement<\/a> that bars those convicted of sexual abuse, violent felonies or child abuse from holding party office. Advocates for the new clause say adding the clause took years of convincing, despite calls on leadership to make changes.<\/p>\n Read more Is the Former Kardashian Nanny Still in Contact With the Dad She Slept With?<\/a><\/p>\n The decision, which was finalized at the party\u2019s state convention in mid-June, comes just months after long-time GOP leader and donor Harvey West, who was convicted of several sex offenses in 2000, resigned from his positions<\/a> as 1st Congressional District chair and a Plan of Organization Committee member for in the state party.<\/p>\n Prior to the addition, anyone was eligible to hold<\/a> party office as long as they were a United States citizen and a North Carolina resident registered as a Republican in the state.<\/p>\n This new requirement applies to people who have positions within the state\u2019s Republican apparatus that are filled through elections or appointments from Republican Party members. It does not apply to publicly elected positions like governors, mayors, or representatives, for example, that are elected by North Carolina voters.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Democrats do not reference God or moral values in their plan, Republicans have made the decision to call for exceptional leaders within party offices,\u201d NC GOP spokesperson Matt Mercer told The News & Observer in a statement. \u201cThis change has been a point of discussion for the past several years and is now official in the new Plan of Organization.\u201d<\/p>\n The Plan of Organization Committee Report does not detail how the requirement would be enforced. Jonathan Fletcher, the chair of the committee, said the committee avoided making specific enforcement requirements like background checks because it would be costly to implement in small counties.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you\u2019ve got some counties where they\u2019re smaller, everybody knows everybody. If somebody has that past, it\u2019s well known. You\u2019re gonna know that,\u201d Fletcher said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think people can use their common sense,\u201d he added later. \u201cIf you have someone who was convicted of tax fraud and they\u2019re running to be treasurer of a county party, just don\u2019t vote for them. You don\u2019t have to have a clause in the plan that says they can\u2019t serve. You just don\u2019t elect them.\u201d<\/p>\n Fletcher said that he and the committee have spent considerable time discussing the new clause to find middle ground between those who didn\u2019t want the clause and those who wanted a sweeping version that would create a longer list of criminal charges that would bar individuals from holding office. The clause passed the committee but did not have unanimous support, Fletcher said.<\/p>\n Though he said he respects peoples\u2019 ability to change, Fletcher realized that the clause was necessary to help protect the party.<\/p>\n \u201c(I am) appreciative of their desire to help, but if their helping the party ends up hurting the party instead just because of their past, then that\u2019s not really a good thing,\u201d Fletcher said.<\/p>\n Michael Magnanti, a member of the Plan of Organization Committee, said that before joining the committee, he proposed a similar amendment at the 2022 state convention \u2014 a version less \u201c<\/i>watered down\u201d than the current clause \u2014 after he was shocked to learn there wasn\u2019t already an eligibility clause about criminal charges.<\/p>\n But the convention elected not to hear it, he said.<\/p>\n As a committee member, he said he still couldn\u2019t gather support for his version of the clause.<\/p>\n Margaret Ackiss, a Republican activist from Cherokee County, said the clause was long overdue.<\/p>\n Read more Longtime leader of Raleigh\u2019s oldest restaurant dies at age 68<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI also believe background checks should be mandatory for executive committee members and candidates seeking party leadership positions,\u201d Ackiss wrote in an emailed statement. \u201cSituations in which significant criminal histories come to light only after public exposure can create unnecessary controversy and damage confidence in the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n Michele Woodhouse, former chair of the party\u2019s 11th Congressional District, said she has been fighting for a felony clause for about eight years.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has always been met with unbelievable resistance by, sadly, leadership at that time led by Michael Whatley the chair,\u201d Woodhouse said.<\/p>\n Michael Whatley led the NC GOP in 2019 to 2024 and served as the Republican National Committee from 2024 to 2025. He resigned to launch his Senate campaign against former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat. West confirmed to WRAL<\/a> that Whatley appointed him to the Plan of Organization Committee.<\/p>\n \u201cThe NCGOP is a grassroots organization – always has been and always will be. Resolutions considered at conventions are put forth by the delegates, not by the central committee, staff, Chairman, or the National Committeeman or Committeewoman,\u201d Mercer said on behalf of the NC GOP in a statement to The N&O.<\/p>\n Fletcher said that although he\u2019s heard people push for a felony clause to be added for years, he doesn\u2019t recall discussing it in committee meetings in years past.<\/p>\n Both Ackiss and Woodhouse said they suspect the clause was only able to pass this month because West resigned from his post on the Plan of Organization Committee. Neither of the women have served on the committee.<\/p>\n Fletcher said he does not believe West\u2019s presence on the committee may have caused intimidation because committee members are often unafraid to bring up uncomfortable topics.<\/p>\n Woodhouse questioned why the party has connected itself with people with sexual abuse charges and allegations, citing West\u2019s annual Down East Judicial Picnic fundraiser and another 2021 incident that involved the Wake County GOP holding a fundraiser<\/a> near Garner at a farm whose owner faced felony secret peeping charges for hiding a camera in the women\u2019s bathroom on the property.<\/p>\n The owner, Lin Honeycutt, pleaded guilty in 2024 to two counts of misdemeanor secret peeping and was sentenced to 45 days in jail and 24 months probation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t be the party that says we stand with victims, we stand with protecting the bathrooms of North Carolina for men. We can\u2019t say any of those things and then on the other side have party leadership celebrating and standing at an event at the home of a man who sexually assaulted … girls,\u201d Woodhouse said. \u201cIt\u2019s hypocrisy.\u201d<\/p>\n The party also has other clauses that immediately removes a party officer who is charged with a felony while serving.<\/p>\n