Lorain County GOP chairman, Young Republicans unit in fight over group's existence

A rift has formed between young and established leadership of the larger Lorain County Republican Party, as the county's Young Republicans group has asked county party Chairman Bob Meilander to stop interfering in its business. In response, Meilander said the group that made the demand lost its charter months ago, and a new group called the Greater Cleveland Young Republicans has taken over to restart the countywide Young Republicans group. The Lorain County Young Republicans PAC Executive Committee on Monday sent a letter to Meilander, who was elected leader of the county party last month, asking him to stop interfering in its business. "It has come to our attention that you have recently attempted to exercise authority or influence over the internal affairs and leadership of the (Young Republicans) despite the fact that your position as Executive Chair of the Lorain County Republican Party does not confer upon you any legal authority or control over our organization," the letter said, a copy of which was obtained by The Chronicle-Telegram. "Your actions, as we understand, include attempts to influence or change the leadership of the (Young Republicans) without proper authorization or due process. Such actions not only infringe upon the autonomy and operational independence of our organization but also potentially violate" state law, the letter read. The Young Republicans called on Meilander to cease his alleged "attempts to interfere" with its "internal leadership decisions," which the group said "may constitute an improper interference with a legally established political committee." The letter also asked Meilander to recognize and respect the "clear separation" between the two "and respect the lawful rights of our organization to operate independently and elect its own leadership according to its own governance documents." Further alleged interference or attempts to take authority from the Young Republicans might result in legal action, the group warned Meilander, asking for a written response within 10 business days. Failure to respond might also result in legal action, the Young Republicans' Executive Committee wrote. Meilander "definitely received it in digital form," Lorain County Young Republicans Chairman Anthony Savage said Tuesday. As of 5 p.m., Savage said Meilander had not responded to the letter. The Lorain County Young Republicans is for Lorain County Republicans ages 18 to 40. In June 2023, the Lorain County Young Republicans group now at odds with Meilander elected Savage as chairman, Duane Russell as vice chairman, Mike Doran as secretary, Kevin Keese as treasurer and Jason Hadchiti as vice treasurer. Meilander also has sent correspondence to the group saying it no longer exists, "which is just not true," Savage said. He said Meilander is "poisoning" its reputation. Savage said his group also is not allowed to use the county party's headquarters on North Ridge Road in Lorain for meetings, and that it has had to ask the Greater Cleveland Young Republicans group to stop using its name and logo. Meilander said he gave the Greater Cleveland group permission to use the name and logo. Meilander responds Meilander said Savage's group lost its charter months ago when the state organization stripped it from them, and it is not supposed to operate under that name. The Chronicle couldn't immediately confirm information on the group's status. "This is something that should have been done a long time ago and wasn't," Meilander said. It was one of the first things he did in April when he took over as county party chairman. The Greater Cleveland Young Republicans will run the youth faction of the Lorain County party for now, Meilander said. Group chairman Andrew Vitaliti is "very educated, a very smart man, he's the type of people we need," he said. Meilander said he would never dictate to a Young Republicans group what to do, but rather guide them. Such groups are for young Republicans "to grow and learn and follow your leadership to become good Republicans," he said. Savage and his group didn't support Republican candidates in the primary, criticized them and "they were being influenced by the wrong people," Meilander said. "They did not support our candidates, they don't support us," he said. Asked whom he meant, Meilander said Savage's group "were all kind of following" Commissioner Michelle Hung, who lost her March primary to Marty Gallagher. "They were supportive of her," he said. "You see how that turned out." The Lorain County Republican Party still needs young people, so Meilander said he took steps to ensure its future. "We're all getting old, we can't continue on to operate forever, we need to teach the young people what to do," Meilander said. This year is "an important election year and we need all the help we can get," Meilander said. "I'm very confident in our new team that they will carry this out." Meilander, the Wellington Area Central Committee of the Lorain County Republican Party and Commissioner David Moore were the only Lorain County Republican party leaders or elected officials to publicly call for Hung to resign in August 2021 after her extramarital affair with a subordinate employee, Harry Williamson, was revealed only eight months into her term as commissioner. Meilander and Savage also have a history: Meilander filed a complaint against Savage with the Ohio Elections Commission in February accusing him of violating state elections law during his campaign to be the Republican nominee in November to replace state Rep. Dick Stein, R-Norwalk, who couldn't run again due to term limits. Kellie Deeter, of Norwalk, defeated Savage, of Wellington, in the primary to replace Stein and is the Republican Party nominee for the seat. She will face Democrat Brenda Buchanan of Columbia Township in November. It also wasn't the first fight over the Young Republicans in the recent past. The group was in turmoil in June 2023 when then-chairwoman Kathleen Beyer told the Chronicle the group was shutting down, even as immediate past chairman Greg Fanning said it would remain open and reorganize. Beyer said she was turning her attention to the county GOP where "we are gonna get some young people in there and we're gonna retire the geriatric club." Fanning later lost his race for Elyria Municipal Clerk of Courts to incumbent Democrat Eric Rothgery. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.