HCGOP DIST. 11 CONVENTION DELEGATES

The North Carolina GOP District 11 will hold its annual convention at Tuscola High School in Waynesville, NC, on Saturday, April 26th. Each of you on this post is a designated delegate to that convention representing the Haywood County Republican Party.

On that day, the most crucial role you will play at that Convention is electing the next Chairperson to provide leadership and guidance to all District 11 County GOP Chairs.

The person you choose to vote for must be trustworthy and capable of providing accurate information and advice to District 11 County Chairs that will help lead Haywood County and all counties within District 11 to not only retain the Republican seats currently held in both the State and Federal congresses but, more importantly, increase the number of seats held by Republicans.

This increase in Republican seats is needed in NC to gain a supermajority to override commonsense constitutional legislation, which our Democrat governor will surely veto. An increase in Republican-held seats in both the federal House of Representatives and Senate is needed to pass legislation in support of President Trump’s mandate to bring our Nation back to that point as intended by our Founding Fathers and enshrined in our Constitution.

Two individuals are running for Chair of GOP District 11: Michele Woodhouse, the current sitting Chair, and her opponent, Merry Guy. Before casting your vote on Saturday, you must be ready to decide who you will vote for but not based on name recognition only.

The individual elected must be one whom all District 11 County Chairs can depend on for advice and guidance to lead their county Republican party. They should always be able to rely on the advice and guidance provided by the District Chair and know that they can seek and implement that advice and guidance, knowing that the information is trustworthy, accurate, and based on facts, not political agendas.

Therefore, I feel compelled to share my personal experience as the acting chair of the Haywood County GOP with the current Chair, Michele Woodhouse, and my knowledge of the individual running against her, Merry Guy. One whose primary purpose appears to be personal status and authority within the NC GOP and one with the experience, knowledge, “trustworthiness,” and honor to lead District 11 to victory.

Michele Woodhouse:

On or about the 1st of April, just four weeks after being elected Vice Chair, Rick Stello unexpectedly resigned as Chair, thrusting me into the position of Acting Chair. I immediately contacted Michele Woodhouse for guidance.

Michele informed me that my first and most immediate task was to convene a special-called meeting of the Haywood County Executive Committee to rank and submit the names of applicants for the two Republican members on the Haywood County Board of Elections (HCBOE) for the 2025 – 2027 term.

Michele Woodhouse advised me that Rick Stello had already submitted the Haywood County GOP’s nominee for the Chair position, and the NC State Auditor’s Office had accepted that name as our choice.

I contacted the State Auditor’s Office and confirmed this information.

Michele Woodhouse assured me, on two separate occasions, that Rick Stello’s submission of his choice for the HCBOE Chair was appropriate and within his authority, and that the only function left to the HCGOP Executive Committee was to meet and rank applicants for membership on the HCBOE and submit that ranking in the order of first choice, second choice, and alternate.

That special-called meeting was scheduled for and held on April 17th.

Four hours before the start of that meeting, I again spoke with her and confirmed that Rick Stello's submission was appropriate and within his authority. She reaffirmed her previous instructions to me, but in that call, she failed to mention that she had written interaction with a member of the HCGOP Executive Committee, Josh Mashburn, who was also one of her District Executive Committee members, which was also unknown to me.

After having advised me regarding the BOE selection process, she then turned around and gave Josh Mashburn, in writing, who had no line authority to be interacting directly with the District Chair regarding official HCGOP matters under the authority of the HCGOP Chair, information 180 degrees opposite to what she had provided to me. Information that led to a total breakdown of the committee members' confidence and trust in my leadership.

Michele Woodhouse stated, in writing, to Josh Mashburn, that Rick Stello’s submission of his choice for Chair of the HCBOE was done so prematurely and without authority. She further stated in that written message that it was the HCGOP’s Executive Committee’s responsibility to select who would be the HCGOP’s nominee for Chair and the ranked HCGOP’s nominations for the two Republican seats on the BOE. Information 180 degrees opposite of what she had given me.

There was strong opposition to Rick Stello’s submitted nominee for the HCBOE Chair position. Still, I stood my ground based on Michele’s repeated guidance regarding the process. I was attempting to bring order to the proceedings when Jose Mashburn chose to share Michele’s instructions, which he received from her, regarding the process with all those in attendance. Information Josh Mashburn failed to share with me before the meeting, so that we could have contacted the District Chair and clarified her conflicting statements before the meeting began, and avoided any misunderstandings.

Instead, Jose Mashburn chose to wait until the proceedings had become heated to reveal his conflicting message from Michele Woodhouse, destroying my credibility regarding the instructions I provided to the committee members.

As District Chair, Michele, failed to understand that for any County Chair to be effective, callers with concerns must be instructed to interact with the County Chair regarding their concerns. Failed to advise such callers that if their concerns could not be resolved between the two of them, the caller should have been instructed to request the County Chair, or Acting Chair in this case, to set up a conference call between them, the County Chair, and the District Chair to ensure that all heard the same information and understood that information in the same way.

As the District Chair, she has willingly accepted calls from disgruntled County Executive Committee members and others with their own political agendas and provided them with information that she then failed to advise the County GOP Acting Chair of her conversation with those callers, resulting in conflicting information and destruction of that County Acting Chair's credibility and ability to lead.

Merry Guy:

Merry Guy, on the other hand, has extensive experience in leadership roles within the Republican Party.

Merry is a solid Conservative Christian with three adult children with her husband of 43 years, and three grandchildren.

Merry's involvement with the Party began in 2016 as a precinct chair, followed by four years as Henderson County Chair. During those four years, Merry brought a divided party together, established a year-round office, executed two very successful Get Out The Vote campaigns, and raised approximately $150,000. After retiring as County Chair, Merry has served the Party in various offices and support roles.

As District Chair, Merry will bring her experience as a County Chair and Precinct Chair to provide the Counties and their Chairs with the resources and trustworthy support when and where needed, with a singular focus on winning Republican elections.

Her experience includes serving on the State Executive Committee, the State Credentialling Committee, and the State Election Integrity Committee.

Merry has no history of acting in any of these positions for her own personal status or gains. She is someone every County Chair can turn to for honest and accurate guidance.