GOP: Democrats shutting public out of 8th District candidate selection

(From the Missouri Republican Party)

While the 8^th Congressional District Republican Committee has been conducting an extraordinarily open and transparent process to nominate the GOP candidate to run in the special election, the Democratic Committee plans to hear from their candidates in secret.

According to the SE Missourian, the Democrats will conduct a candidate forum on Sunday in Poplar Bluff, but they have closed the event to the public and the press.

This is just the latest in a series of missteps and controversies that suggest the 8^th District Democrats are a party in disarray.  Earlier this week, the Democrat committee announced that they would select their candidate at the Sunday meeting, but today, they changed the date, without explanation, to February 9.  On Thursday, the chairman of the Democrat committee announced his resignation.  And late yesterday, the Democrats’ top recruit dropped out of the race.

"The process of selecting a candidate to run for the United States Congress should be conducted as openly and transparently as possible," said Eddy Justice, chairman of the 8^th Congressional District Republican Committee. "Missourians deserve to have an opportunity to get to know the candidates, and they should be able to provide their input.  Conducting this process in secret, as the Democrats are doing, begs the question: What are they trying to hide?"

In contrast to the Democrats’ secret meeting, the Republican committee has operated with full transparency.  Already, two public forums with the candidates have been conducted, and the Republican meeting to select a candidate on February 9 will be open to the press and the public.