KENT COUNTY, Mich. — The Kent County GOP Executive Committee's election of a new chair and vice chair has been postponed.
The election was originally scheduled to take place Monday, a little over two weeks after the previous chair, Tim Walenga, resigned, on Aug. 10.
However, during Monday's more than 4 hour meeting, the Executive Committee did elect 10 new members to fill vacancies that had piled up over the last few months.
Former Chair Tim Walenga represented a large contingency of "America First" Republicans within the Kent GOP, and following his resignation, a number of other Executive Committee members also resigned, including Angela Gillisse, the former vice chair of the party.
According to a text reminder sent from the Kent GOP, Steve Grimm, is running for the open chair position. The text also says that the party would be electing a vice chair, but no candidates were listed. Grimm is an attorney and the current Cannon Township Supervisor.
A Republican strategist familiar with Walenga's resignation told FOX 17 that there were concerns over his ability to raise money and his ability to provide adequate candidate support.
In a statement given to FOX 17, Walenga says, "It is true; I resigned. I plan to still be an active Republican, working on special projects to defeat the Democrats, as they are destroying our communities by the minute."
The chair and vice chair elections are now slated to take place at the next meeting, which is September 25th.
