State GOP to address county party struggles
The Republican Party of Pennsylvania is expected to address two factions identifying themselves as the Butler County Republican Committee in a Friday meeting.
The factions — led by Gary Vanasdale and Bill Halle — both consider themselves the legitimate Republican committee in the county. The state committee is likely to rule on the issue.
“We have a meeting with the state this weekend,” Vanasdale said. “We’ll see if they’re going to endorse or not.”
The county’s Republican committee has seen a period of infighting and confusion since a group that included Halle — president of an incorporated faction of the Butler County Republican Committee — ousted the established chairman, Al Lindsay, after the May election.
“We had a number of people that ran for the committee positions that won,” Halle said. “Al Lindsay and his wife lost their reelection — as well as a number of other people that had been in the party — and our group of people that wanted to reform won.”
Halle and his group — which at the time included Vanasdale — immediately set to work enacting that reform. On July 14, they held a reorganization meeting to merge the committee with the incorporated entity, amend the committee’s bylaws and elect new leadership.
As the new Butler County Republican Committee, they also voted to dismiss a lawsuit the established committee won against them during Lindsay’s tenure. That committee had filed a complaint against Halle and members of his faction in May after they registered the “fictitious” name “Butler County Republican Committee” and incorporated.
“Essentially what happened was that they should stop using the name, disband the corporation, and should cease and desist everything,” Lindsay said. “What did they do? The answer is: They just ignored the judge.”
After the special meeting in July, both Lindsay’s previously established committee and Halle’s faction looked to the state GOP for guidance. The state’s credentials committee held a hearing with both groups Aug. 18 and reported back.
“The credentials committee recommends accepting the will of the majority of duly elected committee members to designate Gary Vanasdale as the chairman of the Butler County Committee,” the report stated.
According to the report, the state GOP hoped the decision would help both groups move forward and come together. Instead, two new factions were formed.
“The Butler County Republican Committee Inc., headed by Bill Halle, and the Butler County committee, headed by Gary Vanasdale, simply went to war with each other,” Lindsay said.
As it stands, both factions operate a Butler County Republican Committee. Vanasdale claims chairmanship of the original committee, as per the state’s report. However, according to Halle, the committee merged with the corporation during its July reorganization meeting, and Vanasdale has since forfeited his position in accordance with the bylaws adopted that day.
“Gary Vanasdale was chairman for, literally, two minutes,” Halle said.
According to the committee’s July 14 meeting minutes, Vanasdale was elected chair with 71 “yea” votes and zero “nay” votes. Four members abstained, and one member had to leave the meeting, according to the minutes.
After the group then voted to incorporate the committee and adopt new bylaws, Michael Oehling was elected as co-chair.
“When the letter from the state was choosing (Vanasdale) as chair, it was simply recognizing what happened in that meeting,” Halle said. “Gary then took that opportunity to try and seize control, saying that the state named him chair and, therefore, they’re going back to the old bylaws — back to the old way.”
Halle said Vanasdale was part of the group’s effort to establish the new bylaws.
“Unfortunately, the bylaws that he voted and installed have a provision that if you don’t attend at least three meetings or communicate as to the reason for an excuse that is accepted, then you basically remove yourself from the committee,” Halle said. “So because of his efforts to try and take control, he did not attend a number of meetings, and then removed himself from even being a member.”
In spite of the Vanasdale group’s claim, Halle said that the incorporated committee is the only legitimate committee in the county. To this end, Halle recently filed a cease-and-desist request against Vanasdale.
“If you go to the Department of State and look under ‘Butler County Republican Committee,’ we’re there,” Halle said. “There’s other groups that we hope do fantastic working with Republican issues, but regarding the local committee … what occurred on July 14th is what occurred — the committee is the committee.”
Halle explained that reforming the committee as a corporation has provided the group a legitimacy and accountability that he believes the prior group was lacking. It also granted them a level of independence from the state GOP, according to Halle; however, that, independence has come at a price.
“We’re probably going to have to press a legal issue with the state (GOP), because right now the state (GOP) is trying to exercise control that it does not have,” Halle said. “The state refuses to recognize the person that we voted as our representative for the state committee.”
The incorporated group’s current representative is Denise Tabacchi. Tabacchi will attend the state committee meeting Friday.
“Gary was that person, but when he removed himself from the committee. Obviously, he could no longer be that person,” Halle said. “We are still awaiting on the state to formally recognize her, because the meeting is this coming Friday.”
For Vanasdale, the issue of legitimacy between the factions is simple.
“It’s the one that’s recognized by the state GOP,” he said. “There’s no question — that’s me.”
Vanasdale was recognized as chairman in the Republican Party of Pennsylvania’s credential committee report in August, and his contact information is listed on the state GOP’s webpage for the Butler County Republican Party.
He responded to Halle’s recent cease-and-desist request with one in turn, Halle said. The request, dated Jan. 30, alleges that the incorporated committee’s reformed bylaws were illegitimate in the eyes of the state GOP. It also claimed that the group did not have the appropriate quorum to take action.
“At this point, we would like to avoid reinstating the complaint, order, and proceedings against you individually,” the request stated, “but you must immediately cease to represent the BCRC and its Elections Operations, which is composed of the duly elected committee members.”
The issue, he said, is not something he wants to spend any more time on.
“The situation as I see it: I’m not interested in looking in the rearview mirror,” he said. “I’m interesting in looking forward.”
Instead, according to Vanasdale, the next step is getting to work.
“This county has grown Republican voters, it is a strong Republican county, and there are other groups that are advancing Republican values,” he said. “Do they agree 100%? No. But other groups advancing Republican values, we don’t have any issues with it.”
Vanasdale will represent the Butler County Republican Committee as chairman for Friday’s committee meeting.
“A year ago, I didn’t expect this,” Lindsay said. “But you could see it coming.”
Lindsay and his wife, Trish, had been on the Butler County Republican Committee for almost 40 years. His committee took office in 2018.
“The sad part about it is, in 2018 we decided to try to make the Republican committee viable and strong — we increased the registration by 10,000, we won all the political offices, we had statewide endorsements,” Lindsay said. “These people, for no other reason than that they could, decided to blow it all up.”
According to Lindsay, Halle and his group removed him and the committee’s leadership after a “serious” campaign during the 2022 primary election.
“The heart of the organization is now with a PAC,” Lindsay said. “The United Republicans of Butler County.”
According to member and Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo, the United Republicans of Butler County is a political action committee of county Republicans dedicated to supporting Republican candidates.
“Candidates and current officeholders alike did not want to touch those volatile groups, led by Bill Halle or led by Gary Vanasdale, with a 10-foot pole,” Longo said.
Longo, himself the former secretary of the committee under Lindsay, said that the PAC was composed of former members and volunteers from the Butler County Republican Committee.
“My word to you is this: The Republican Party in Butler County is still very much alive and well and strong,” Longo said. “The work is being continued by 40 of us in the United Republicans of Butler County who have assumed the mantle of leadership, because Bill Halle and Gary Vanasdale are more interested in fighting with one another than they are pushing the party’s mission forward.”
While the infighting continues, the county is left waiting for reconciliation.
“From a county perspective, our election office does not know who to answer to,” county Commissioner Kim Geyer said. “It’s causing a lot of confusion.”
According to Geyer, the county solicitor recently reached out to the state GOP’s general counsel, Tom King, asking the organization to get involved and make a determination.
King said he was unable to comment on the matter.
“Absent some formal intervention by the state GOP, we really are currently at a loss,” county Commissioner Leslie Osche said.
Zachary Scherer, candidate for county commissioner and a former member of the faction that ousted Lindsay, said he does not identify with either group’s leadership.
“Personally I’d like to see — just to unite the party and bring the United Republicans of Butler County back into the committee, as well to support the local races,” he said.
Ultimately, the outcome rests on the state committee meeting Friday — and whether both factions are willing to accept its decision. Until then, the work continues for county Republicans.
“All that said, we’re very positive about our county in general and the state of our county in general,” Osche said. “We have wonderful people here, we have great people to work with on all sides — we just need to stay focused on the task at hand.”
Want to learn more?
Butler County Republican Committee
Vanasdale’s Republican committee can be found at butlercountyrepublicancommittee.com. It can also be reached at gary@butlercountyrepublicancommittee.com.
Butler County Republican Committee, Inc.
Halle’s Republican committee can be reached by email at 2BCRC@protonmail.com or by phone at 724-277-2297.
United Republicans of Butler County
The United Republicans of Butler County can be found on Facebook or reached at 724-209-4708. It can be emailed at UnitedRepublicansofButlerCo@gmail.com.
This story was updated at 1:34 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2023 to reflect that the United Republicans of Butler County is a political action committee (PAC). A previous version of this story referred to it as a “pact”.
