Republican State Legislative Council (RSLC) in turmoil as redistricting looms
The GOP group charged with winning state legislatures is in turmoil — sparking concerns that the party is at risk of blowing the next round of redistricting.
The Republican State Leadership Committee has seen an exodus of top staff in recent months, has lagged behind its Democratic counterpart in fundraising and is struggling to explain why its new president, Austin Chambers, was also moonlighting as a general consultant for Louisiana businessman Eddie Rispone's failed bid for governor.
The troubles come on the cusp of a crucial opportunity for the party to amass political power for the next decade: the 2020 state-level elections, which will determine which party controls the process of redrawing the political maps for the next decade.
Republicans are reeling after major 2019 losses in Virginia, Kentucky and Louisiana — as Democrats are organizing and fundraising at a record-breaking clip. Led by former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder, they are working to prioritize state-level races after getting clobbered in the post-2010 redistricting.
Now, some elected GOP officials, donors and party strategists are questioning the RSLC’s leadership. Complaints grew loud enough that committee officials convened a conference call the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in which Chambers and Bill McCollum, the chairman of the RSLC board, took questions from state lawmakers perturbed by Chambers’ outside work, which many were unaware of until after the Louisiana elections.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/02/republicans-state-elections-turmoil-redistricting-074783
