The Warren County Republican Party will weigh whether to adopt new rules that would let leaders kick members out of the party for making negative comments about their endorsed candidates.
The party's governing committees were originally meant to discuss and vote on the proposed changes Sept. 22, according to a newsletter announcement.
But after The Enquirer reached out, Christian Mays, chairman of the Warren County Republican Party, shared on Sept. 18 that the committee has decided to postpone the discussion and vote to focus on other election efforts.
It's the latest in a growing tension over endorsements and campaign spending for the Republican Party in Warren County, where Donald Trump won with 64% of the vote in 2024. The move also comes less
than two months before the midterm elections in a GOP stronghold where theparty hopes to retake a Cincinnati-area congressional seat it once held.
In an email to The Enquirer, Mays said nothing has been finalized.
"I do not want not get ahead of the members, their discussion, or their vote by treating proposed language as though it has already been adopted," he said. "My immediate focus as Chairman – and the overwhelming focus of our organization heading into November – is preparing for the general election and organizing our get-out-the-vote efforts."
Members could be penalized for 'negative comments'
Under the proposed changes to the county party's rules and code of conduct, leadership could censure, penalize and kick out members who make public or private "negative comments" about the party's endorsed candidates with "the intention of dissuading votes."
Members would be prohibited from "actively, publicly, or financially" supporting candidates running against the party-endorsed candidate, including in contested primary and non-partisan elections where Republicans could run against each other. The rule changes also state that if the party doesn't end up endorsing a candidate in a non-partisan election, committee members can support any candidate except, specifically, Democrats.
Members who are themselves running in a primary or non-partisan election would be exempt from those new rules. The rules also wouldn't apply to members who have close family members running in a contested primary election.
Mays said that members' First Amendment rights "are not implicated or stifled" by the proposed changes.
"The party is a private association, not a state or federal entity," he said. "Our members are expected to support Republicans and our endorsed Republican candidates."
Warren County GOP leadership had faced criticism
In June, the longtime treasurer of the county party, Randy Kuvin, left his role, saying he disagreed with party leaders' increasing spending on supporting candidates in races where Republicans run against each other. Kuvin also said the party had supported "inadequately vetted Republican candidates."
The Enquirer reported in March that the Warren County GOP sent texts to registered Republicans encouraging them to run for county central committee − seats elected in the May primary. At least two incumbent committee candidates, including South Lebanon Mayor Linda Burke, said people living in their precincts received the texts recruiting them to run. Burke called the move "a very concerted effort" and "about as corrupt as it can get." Mays told The Enquirer that it wasn't the party's goal to send texts to people in precincts where there were incumbents.
Burke later said that the Warren County GOP demanded she endorse Mays, who at the time was running for the state committee that oversees the Ohio Republican Party, and retract previous statements she'd made to The Enquirer, threatening to censure or kick her out if she did not. At the time, Mays said that she was asked to support him as the current party chairman, not endorse him as a candidate.
Mays told The Enquirer that while the party doesn't change its rules often, these proposals were not in response to any specific incident. He said that the specific changes were first shared with the executive committee in January 2026, then shared with the rest of the party "with some modifications" recently.
The newsletter went out on Sept. 12. In a followup to his initial response to The Enquirer on Sept. 18, he said that the party is delaying discussion on the proposed changes to focus on its "get out the vote efforts" ahead of midterms.
What would the penalties be?
The changes also outline penalties for members, based on if they are elected at the ballot box or appointed within the party.
Members elected to their committees would be censured but still allowed to participate in "statutory duties." But they'd be barred from any other party activity. They could also be asked to pay "expenses associated with the offense," face fines, and be asked to issue an apology or retraction.
Non-elected members would be censured and expelled from the party entirely.
Who controls the Warren County Republican Party?
The executive committee − consisting of the chairman, vice chairman, secretary and treasurer − ultimately holds the most power and oversees the Warren County Republican Party. The executive committee has seven other at-large members, according to the party's website. Only the executive committee has the power to give or withdraw the Warren County Republican Party's endorsement.
The party also has a broader central committee, which includes one member from each of Warren County's election precincts and has its own leadership.
What other changes could the party make?
The proposed changes would also remove the chairman of the Warren County Young Republicans and president of theRepublican Women of Warren County from the executive committee.
The Warren County Republican Party leadership page does not include a member with a listed affiliation with the Warren County Young Republicans. Mays said in an email to The Enquirer that as of the committee's last meeting, there wasn't an active Warren County Young Republicans president so that spot on the executive committee is vacant. But he said he learned the group recently reorganized, and its president will attend the upcoming meeting.
The group's Facebook does not list any official members but has been actively posting since March − the last post before then was from 2019. The Warren County Young Republicans did not return an email asking if their organization currently has representation on the executive committee and if it would support this change.
Amy Brewer, president of the Republican Women of Warren County, currently serves as an at-large member on the party's executive committee. Mays said Brewer would not be removed from the committee because she is an elected central committee member and a member of the party's board of directors.
What does the state party think?
The party also wants to create a new "vetting committee," with three or more people appointed by the chairman, dedicated to recommending candidates for office and the party's central committee. Under the changes, the chairman would also be able to take immediate legal action on behalf of the party.
The Ohio Republican Party did not respond to questions about if the changes in Warren County align with its state-level code of conduct and bylaws or if it supports the proposed changes.
The Enquirer has requested an up-to-date version of the state party's constitution and bylaws filed with the Ohio Secretary of State. But a version of the party's by-laws available online, filed in 2015, does not include rules that prevent individual members from opposing endorsed candidates.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: County GOP could kick out members who oppose its endorsed candidates
