At the outset of the November 30, 2023 meeting of the Pickaway County
Republican Central Committee, Chairman Mike Whitten made the following
statement: “This meeting is not open to the public and….I would ask those who
are not members to leave”. Pickaway may be the only county in Ohio where the
local GOP is not actively recruiting new supporters and closing their meetings to
the public. Here is a description of the Pickaway Republicans who were told to
leave: a retired US Army Command Sergeant Major with over 29 years of active
duty service and is the Director of the Pickaway Soldiers Monumental Association;
a retired Franklin County Deputy Sheriff with more than 30 years and is the
president of the “No Industrial Solar on Farmland” group, and was recently
elected as a Township Trustee; a pro-life activist who walked precincts and
knocked on over 500 doors in an effort to defeat Issue 1 on November 7 th ; lastly a
former Republican candidate for Mayor of Circleville. Chairman Whitten canceled
the three meetings prior to the November 7, 2023 election. At this meeting he
announced there would be no more meetings of the Committee until after the
very important March 19, 2024 Primary Election. This makes no sense. No
wonder Republicans lost on the past three ballot issues. There are many
Pickaway County Republicans interested in voter registration drives and actively
supporting conservative issues. You would think the County GOP Chairman would
welcome all of them to the monthly meetings. Why not have transparency with
the Republicans of Pickaway County? Chairman Whitten, do you really have the
Republican party’s best interests in mind? Transparency and inclusion of
Republican constituents at Central Committee meetings would go a long way in
uniting a disenfranchised electorate.
Marian Garner
Circleville, Ohio
