The North Carolina Republican Party will meet in Selma Tuesday night to elect a new chairman.
The state party's current chairman, Michael Whatley, is stepping down to become the new chairman of the Republican National Committee. Former President Donald Trump backed Whatley, along with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, to lead the organization in this year's campaign.
Trump has also weighed in on who should replace Whatley in North Carolina. He's endorsed Jason Simmons, who currently serves as executive director of the NCGOP under Whatley. Simmons has worked as a staffer on Trump's past campaigns.
Trump said in a post on his social media website that Simmons "has been with me since Day One, and has been key to our many Republican Victories in the Tar Heel State." Simmons wrote in a Facebook post that he wants to strengthen the GOP at the county and precinct level and work on election security issues.
But Tuesday's election will test the willingness of other North Carolina Republican Party leaders to follow Trump's recommendation. Hundreds of party leaders from across the state will vote on their choice for chair.
Jim Womack, who currently chairs the Lee County Republican Party and has served on the Lee County commission, is also running for chairman. He said he's improved outreach and brought more diverse people into the party at the county level, resulting in more GOP wins for local offices.
"If you look around the room at a lot of our gatherings, it's a bunch of tired old white guys — wonderful citizens, great patriots — but we're an aging population, and we haven't really been welcoming to younger voters," Womack said. He said he also wants to improve the state party's "anemic" fundraising numbers. "The biggest thing of all would be to get the Republican Party operating like a business instead of a country club."
Last year's election for NCGOP chairman was marred by allegations of voting irregularities because the party used an app to conduct the election.
That triggered some Republicans to sue the party, saying that some votes were improperly cast from outside the state. That lawsuit was later dismissed, and Womack said he's confident this week's election will be conducted properly.
"We've expressed concerns about making sure that election integrity is in place, and so we'll have some checks and balances and make sure that we have observation of every every aspect of the election," Womack said.
