BRANSON, Mo. – Early in the delegation selection process, mostly at the local conventions, there was drama and fighting, especially between supporters of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. But the GOP comes out of the state convention in Branson with little drama and united behind one goal: beat Hillary Clinton.
Turnout at the convention was a little higher than usual, with 1,260 delegates attending. While supporters of Cruz and establishment Republicans turned out better than Trump supporters, they came together to support a unity slate of delegates, soundly defeated rogue pro-Trump and pro-Cruz offerings.
“I was a supporter of Ted Cruz. I was disappointed that the didn’t win. But I’m also a huge proponent of second amendment rights and a lot of our freedoms, and we have way too much at stake, especially with our court selection, to allow Hillary Clinton to get elected,” said Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, who was selected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention. “I think we have to realize that while it may not be our candidate, we’ve got way too much at stake here.”
Pat Thomas, the secretary of the Missouri GOP, was selected to go the national convention for her fourth time. She echoed Burlison’s concerns about Hillary Clinton and coming together to defeat her.
“We can’t let Hillary win. We just cannot let Hillary Clinton win,” she said. “We have to turn our voters out and remind them constantly what this is all about, what’s at stake here, and it’s the future of our country”
The party was proud that it came together to select the unity slate while it seemed many were predicting chaos in Branson.
“Although Democrats were hoping for a chaotic and divisive convention, the overwhelming consensus coming out of Branson is that we are united and ready to fight for victory in November,” the state party wrote in an email to supporters Monday morning.
Burlison and Thomas agreed with the unified feel of the convention, saying a lot of the problems were worked out ahead of time so it would run smoothly.
“A lot of the hard work and any of the a lot of the decisions were made prior to the meeting of the conventions,” Burlison said. “Any of the disagreements that we had between different groups or different camps, they tried to get all those worked out before the convention so there wasn’t going to be any major conflict at the meeting.”
Thomas credited a lot of the work to the convention’s chair, John Hancock, who she said put in a lot of the work to bring the different factions together.
“The slate that won was a good combination of multiple things: different campaigns, different ideologies — some people are more fiscal conservative, others are more social conservative. I think it’s a good blend of grassroots versus the donor,” she said. “I definitely don’t envy the task of the chairman because I think that was a hard task, getting what he thought was a reasonable slate when you have factions that are as different as Trump and Cruz.”
While that slate, which included House Speaker Todd Richardson and Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, ended up passing easily, there was some individual level drama, especially when it came to selecting the male national committee member.
Harvey Tettlebaum had campaigned for the position and may have been likely to get it before he penned a memo for his law firm, Husch Blackwell, about potential legal issues with SJR 39. Allison Onder, the wife of the resolution’s sponsor Sen. Bob Onder, nominated Gordon Kinne for the national committee and he soundly defeated Tettlebaum.
Also of note, while Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly was elected on the winning slate, she did receive a couple of boos when her name was called. Her organization has dealt with internal chaos since she decided to endorse Trump over Cruz.
But the convention achieved its main goal, electing a unity ticket to send to the convention. Burlison was excited to attend his first convention.
“I’ve never been there. I’ve never seen what it’s like. I’m excited to see it first hand,” he said. “The national convention is a part of history and so it will be exciting to be at an event that is of national significance.”
