With less than a week to the primary election in Pennsylvania, the state GOP formally recognized Gary Vanasdale as Butler County Republican Committee chairman in a letter sent to county Commissioner Leslie Osche, chairwoman.

In the letter dated Wednesday, May 10, executive director of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania Angela Alleman said Vanasdale was recognized as chairman by the state party after a credentials hearing Aug. 18, 2022, and has been the chairman ever since — despite any controversy and confusion within the county.

“Mr. Vanasdale has since that date been the recognized chair of the Butler County Republican Committee,” Alleman said in the letter.

She said it was sent in response to a county inquiry concerning its fractured Republican committee — Vanasdale representing the Butler County Republican Committee and Bill Halle then representing the Butler County Republican Committee Inc.

The Butler County Bureau of Elections recently updated its website to reflect the contact information for Vanasdale’s Butler County Republican Committee, according to bureau director Chantell McCurdy.

“The state Republican Party reached out to us and told us he is in charge. They gave us the information to put on the website,” McCurdy said.

On Wednesday, May 10, Vanasdale could be seen listed on the election bureau’s website as the chairman of the committee along with a phone number, email and link to the committee’s website.

According to McCurdy, the county solicitor had been in touch with the state GOP to confirm which party was recognized. The answer was received prior to her recent return from maternity leave, and the website was updated shortly after her return, she said.

In February, Jade Bowers, assistant director for the Butler County Bureau of Elections, said the bureau was recognizing both groups until told otherwise by the state.

For some time, both groups were recognized on the county’s website, but to prevent from posting incorrect information, the bureau briefly removed the party’s contact information from the website, Bowers said in February.

The elections bureau had accepted and filed the bylaws of both Vanasdale’s Butler County Republican Committee and Halle’s incorporated committee during that time.

“It worked out that there weren’t any local races in the meantime. We sent people to the state Republican Party until we got the guidelines back,” McCurdy said about how the bureau handled questions related to the matter.

The committee has seen a period of infighting and confusion since the 2022 primary, when a group including Vanasdale and Halle ousted established chairman Al Lindsay and set to work incorporating the committee.

Lindsay, still representing a faction of ousted committee members, turned to the state Republican Party for guidance. On Aug. 24, the party formally recognized Vanasdale as chairman.

The move did little to mend the division, however, instead fracturing Vanasdale and Halle’s committee between the two men.

As it stood, both factions claimed to represent the Butler County Republican Committee. Vanasdale claimed 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 had since forfeited his position in accordance with the bylaws adopted that day.

Vanasdale and Halle had been vying for legitimacy ever since.

“I am glad the elections bureau has confirmed what the Pa. GOP decided on Aug. 24, 2022,” Vanasdale said. “As stated before, there is only one Butler County Republican Committee.”

Vanasdale encouraged the public to get out and vote in Tuesday’s primary.

Halle said Wednesday that he is no longer president of the incorporated party, instead deferring to the faction’s new president, Greg Crawford.

At press time Wednesday, Crawford had not returned requests for comment.

McCurdy said the office had already been receiving finance reports, which the bureau keeps on file, from Vanasdale’s committee.

Per the elections bureau’s website, the Butler County Republican Committee can be reached at 724-741-0536 or info@butler-county-pa.gop. The committee’s website is listed as butlercountyrepublicancommittee.com.