Northumberland County Republican chair resigns

Mar. 28—SUNBURY — Northumberland County Republican Party Chairwoman Deb Betz has resigned, citing what she called racial bigotry, comments about sexual preference and a lack of help following a contentious conferee process last week.

The party nominated Shikellamy school director Michael Stender over Milton Councilman Joe Moralez by an 11-10 count last week to run for the state House seat in the 108th District.

Chairwoman Deb Betz emailed the Republican committee members after the meeting noting that although she thinks Stender is a good candidate, others needed to be strongly considered. In her email, Betz said some of the committee representatives had made remarks regarding Black candidates and had commented on some candidate's sexual preferences.

At the convention Thursday, 21 conferees — 10 from Sunbury — were allowed to vote for Stender, Moralez, Tom Webb, Andrew Ramos or Gary Truckenmiller, of Northumberland County, or Montour County's Steve Brosious, David Ackley and Edward Rothermel.

"I have heard several comments about our two candidates of why many did not support either of them. Comments I heard ranged from being RINO (Republican in Name Only) to being gay," she wrote. "As disgusting as that may be to hear, another related to 'being Black,' it's not a part of who I am. I'll stop there. There was more, but much of it was bigoted and racist commentary. This party, at county level, and even at state level, will never be successful if this is going to be the mindset of the party."

Betz said she also decided to step away because of lack of help from party members to stick within the committee.

She referenced Webb and Moralez as loyal party members who either held functions at their businesses or donated money or time.

"Why, you ask, should we support them? Well, because they had supported you and this party for years prior to this seat being open," she wrote. "They petitioned for you, put signs out, door knocked, set up, tore down, cooked, gave us a place to use for events, while both had given thousands of dollars to push the Republican Party.

"All of this while most of you chose to enjoy the benefits of their hard work. Most of you would have realized how much these two candidates did for this party if you would have simply shown up to help too. They were both very strong and viable candidates."

Betz said some of the candidates were also "lied" to by conferees prior to the vote last week.

"What is even more offensive is that I found out, while both candidates were getting support from our committee, they were lied to by the very people that enjoy and want their support," she wrote.

"Some of you are going to assume that I am resigning because of Joe Moralez losing to Mike Stender for the state rep position. This is not true," Betz wrote. "There are many reasons for my need to separate from the committee. I cannot continue, any longer, working with five people when we have at least 60 members that could contribute to the events and fundraising."

Moralez said he is saddened Betz resigned.

"She (Betz) was the best chair our committee has ever had and was so instrumental in our success regionally not to mention a prolific fundraiser and there is no doubt that the committee will suffer without Deb," he said.

"I can't speak on the remarks of bigotry and homophobia because I did not hear them, but what I can talk about is the special election process," he said. "The county chairs are tasked with picking conferees to act as an ad hoc electoral college in a sense and what most chairs do is take advantage of this unique process and choose conferees who will vote for a specific candidate. I do not think that happened in this case. All the candidates were more than qualified for this position and all offered a different perspective."

Moralez said location of conferees matters.

"What did happen in this case was the majority of conferees, 11 of the 21, were from the Sunbury region and as we all know location, location, location matters — not just in real estate but in elections as well," he said.

"I am not upset because no matter who would have won would have made a great representative. Now I, of course, am saddened by the outcome, but I'm also excited to see the new changes and leadership that Mr. Stender will bring to our area."

Moralez said the Democratic choice, Trever Finn, a Montour County Commissioner, is well-known.

"I encourage our Republicans to fall in line and support Mr. Stender," he said. "His challenger is a well-known moderate and has been a county commissioner for 20 years, but I am more than confident that we can ensure a victory for Mr Stender."

Webb declined to comment on the conferee process.