Elizabeth Kolstad retained her position as chair of the Fresno County Republican Party by one vote. Or did she?

The Fresno County Republican Party held a meeting Tuesday night at party headquarters to vote on leadership. Kolstad apparently won the vote for a second two-year term as chair, 15-14.

However, Kolstad opponents claim two members were denied entrance to the meeting that could have flipped the vote.

Hours later, 16 members of the central committee held their own meeting at a local Denny’s, voting 16-0 to select Peter Halajian as the new chair.

Kolstad said any other vote does not count, and she is the rightful party chair.

“I am excited to hit the ground running and continue keeping Fresno County red. We had a lot of successes over the last two years and we will continue working with everybody just as we have before, regardless of how they voted, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m looking forward to putting everything behind me and moving forward,” Kolstad said.

Kolstad says she will not hold a grudge.

“I’m hoping that the other side doesn’t take their toys and just go home and say, you know, we’re not working with her just because we didn’t win. That’s not the right response. I absolutely will work with every single one of them to further the Republican Party in Fresno County and grow our footprint in this district,” Kolstad said.

After the story published, Halajian responded to GV Wire, saying he has no comment at this time.

Related Story: Is a Fresno County GOP Leadership Rebellion Underway?

Bredefeld: ‘Attempting to Steal an Election’

Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld represented former state Assembly candidate Joanna Garcia Rose at the meeting. He previously announced his support for Halajian.

“It was an absolute, complete disgrace. Liz Kolstad should be ashamed of herself for what she did,” Bredefeld told GV Wire. “When you talk about trying to steal elections, Liz Kolstad is the example of attempting to steal an election.”

“It makes them look like sore losers. But the election was not stolen in any fashion. Everything was done correctly per our bylaws,” Kolstad responded.

Central committee member Anji Brown, a Halajian supporter said, “I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know … people would would resort to such lengths to win an election.”

She said the party should hold another election administered by a neutral party.

GV Wire reached out to several other committee members, including Kolstad supporters, who did not want to comment or did not respond.

Two Denied Entry to First Meeting

Dan Moreno, a field representative for newly elected Assemblymember David Tangipa, R-Clovis, attended the meeting on behalf of Tangipa.

He said security guards would not let central committee member Connie Brooks inside the meeting, because she arrived after the 6 p.m. start time. Austin Gilbert, representing former state Senate candidate David Shepard, was also denied entry. Other central committee members confirmed that account on the record, and on background.

“They locked her out,” Moreno said. “There was quite a bit of uproar over whether or not (Brooks) should be let in. And the chair and some of the other members of the previous board weren’t acknowledging it. And they pretty much just ran roughshod over any kind of inquiry.”

Kolstad said security guards have been in place for the last six months.

“If the meeting is in progress, you don’t disrupt per Robert’s Rules (of Order) a vote,” Kolstad said about Brooks.

Kolstad said Gilbert was not eligible because Shepard — who ran for state Senate in 2022 against Melissa Hurtado — moved out of state to Idaho. She said bylaws require former candidates who are part of the central committee to be registered Republicans in California.

Gilbert disagrees with Kolstad’s interpretation. He said he has had not had a problem voting on the central committee since 2023 when Shepard moved away.

“He has the right to that voting position until the next primary where someone else is nominated for the Senate District 16 seat,” Gilbert said.

A Secondary Meeting

The 6 p.m. meeting lasted less than a half hour. That was not the end of voting.

“We, as part of the state party bylaws, reconvened the meeting later that day, gave notice to everyone to show up. And then I went and cast my vote as I believe I should have been allowed to during that day,” Gilbert said.

An email went out to central committee members for a 9:15 p.m. meeting at the Denny’s at Clovis and Herndon avenues in Clovis.

“We, a quorum of elected and appointed members of the Fresno County Republican Party Central Committee, reject the results of our January 7th, 2025 organizational meeting. Due to the physical exclusion of one elected member, the inconsistent admission of proxy votes, and the rejection of a duly appointed ex officio member serving on behalf of a voting member of the committee, the results of the executive committee election are not valid,” Halajian wrote in an email to central committee members around 9 p.m.

Kolstad said her opponents had no right nor standing to reconvene the meeting.

“It’s unfortunate that they weren’t prepared and they are now flinging accusations,” Kolstad said. “We did everything by the book in proper form.”

On the party’s website, the Kolstad slate is listed as members of the executive committee, including Kean Anrig as vice chair; Lance Jackson as second vice chair; Alex Reyna as secretary; Susan Kraemer as treasurer; and Martha Kolstad and Sidhu Kulwant as at-large members.

At the second meeting, in addition to Halajian, members voted Sherie Benbrook for vice chair and Matt Casarez as second vice chair.

Corrin Rankin, vice chair for the state party, said she did not have enough information to recognize who is truly the chair of the Fresno County GOP.

“The California GOP will take all info under review,” Rankin said.

Who is On the Central Committee

The central committee consists of 23 members elected last March by Fresno County Republican voters. Three of those positions were vacant headed into the meeting.

Other voters include the “ex officio” class, who are elected members of Congress, the state Assembly, and state Senate that represent a part of Fresno County. If the person is not in office, then the last Republican who ran for the seat can vote on central committee matters.

Ex officio members may send an alternate in their place.

Dems Troll GOP Online

As the chaos unfolded Tuesday, the Fresno County Young Democrats trolled the GOP online.

.@FresnoCountyGOP right now pic.twitter.com/a2iN1sdUBy

— Fresno County Young Democrats (@FresnoYoungDems) January 8, 2025