Republicans change rules affecting Kruse replacement

Kruse stepped down this month following allegations he sexually harassed women he worked with at the Capitol.

Next Saturday, a group of Republican precinct committee persons from his district will meet in Coquille to begin the process of selecting a replacement. They’ll select a slate of three to five candidates, and the commissioners will select one to fill the position for the remainder of the year.

However, thanks to a new rule passed by the Oregon Republican Party State Central Committee at a March 17 meeting in Lebanon, the precinct committee persons will have a second task to perform in Coquille next Saturday. They’ll be selecting the Republican nominee who will run for Kruse’s former job in November.

The new rule takes the choice of that nominee out of the hands of county commissioners, some of whom may be Democrats, and keeps the decision in Republican hands, explained Douglas County Republican Party Chairman Fred Dayton.

Dayton attended the March 17 meeting and voted in favor of the new rule. The rule applies not just to the Kruse case, but also to future cases in which the Republicans need a nominee to replace a legislator who has stepped down. It’s possible that in some cases, a majority of the commissioners could be Democrats, Dayton said.

“The risk would be that they would appoint the weakest potential nominee,” he said.

Prior to that meeting, the Republican rulebook would have made the commissioners’ appointee also serve as the party’s nominee.

The March 17 meeting was attended by two Douglas County Republican officers, two additional delegates and four alternates, along with 100 party officers and delegates from 24 counties.

Next Saturday’s meeting is expected to be attended by up to 71 precinct committee persons from the portions of Douglas, Curry, Coos, Josephine and Jackson counties included in Senate District 1.

Two state representatives, Dallas Heard, R-Winston, and David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, have expressed interest in Kruse’s former seat.

Douglas County Democratic Party Chairwoman Alana Lenihan said she expects Democratic precinct committee persons in the district will also hold a convention to select a nominee for the November election, but said it likely won’t happen prior to the May 15 primary.