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Will State GOP Determine Who Is Rightful Leader of Fresno GOP?
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By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 1 week ago on
January 15, 2025

Will the state GOP determine who is the leader of the Fresno County GOP party, Peter Halajian, at left, or Liz Kolstad? (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)

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Liz Kolstad says she is the chair of the Fresno County Republican Party.

Sheโ€™s not alone. Peter Halajian says heโ€™s the chair of the Fresno County Republican Party.

The dueling claims stem from the partyโ€™s organizational meeting Jan. 7, where it appeared the partyโ€™s executive committee re-elected Kolstad to another two-year term by a 15-14 vote over Halajian.

Halajianโ€™s supporters said two voters were kept out of that meeting, making the vote illegitimate. The supporters โ€œreconvened in compliance with bylawsโ€ in a subsequent meeting at a Clovis Dennyโ€™s, where Halajian and his slate were elected to the Fresno GOPโ€™s executive board by a 16-0 vote.

The issue may be decided by the state party. Halajian transmitted his vote result to the California GOP. He wants either recognition of the vote or that the state party oversee a new election.

Halajian said the state responded that they received the documentation. He is willing to accept a state ruling.

โ€œWe donโ€™t believe that this election was valid. We donโ€™t believe it was right, and we want to ensure that Republican voters know that, hey, we did all we could,โ€ Halajian said.

Kolstad said she too has been in contact with the state party, who told her they donโ€™t have โ€œpurviewโ€ over the matter. She interpreted a state party bylaw that says county parties โ€œoperate under their own bylaws.โ€

โ€œWeโ€™re moving forward,โ€ Kolstad told GV Wire on Wednesday. She wants to focus on electing more Republicans and supporting President-elect Donald Trump.

State party chair Jessica Millan Patterson did not return messages from GV Wire.

Gregory Gandrud, the stateโ€™s treasurer, said it is possible a state party member may help informally resolve the dispute. He said the state partyโ€™s bylaws does not have a formal leadership vote resolution process.

The state party holds its spring convention March 14-16 in Sacramento. County chairs appoint delegates. Gandrud said any credential challenge โ€” such as a dispute about who is the county chair making the appointment โ€” would be decided by the Proxies and Credentials committee.

โ€˜Illegitimateโ€™ and โ€˜Complainersโ€™

In a news release last week, Halajian called the vote Kolstad won โ€œillegitimate.โ€

Kolstad, in a Monday news release, called the dissidents โ€œcomplainersโ€ and called the Dennyโ€™s meeting โ€œhappy-hour activities.โ€

โ€œ(The second meeting has) as much merit as five people getting together at IHOP and voting themselves in as the new Fresno County Board of Supervisors,โ€ Kolstad said.

Would Vote Have Flipped?

At the first meeting, Halajianโ€™s supporters said Kolstad excluded committee member Connie Brooks because she was late; and excluded Austin Gilbert โ€” an alternate representing former state Senate candidate David Shepard โ€” because Shepard has moved out of California.

Halajian โ€” a district representative with Assemblymember David Tangipa, R-Clovis โ€” said Kolstadโ€™s actions โ€œundermine the organizationโ€™s bylaws and partyโ€™s values of integrity.โ€

Kolstad previous explained that Robertโ€™s Rules of Order โ€” a guideline used to conduct many meetings, public and private โ€” prevent a voter participating after the vote has started.

โ€œMr. Gilbert was not even there to be excluded,โ€ Kolstad said in the news release.

Despite implying in an interview with GV Wire last week he was at the first meeting, Gilbert later clarified he was not there. A second alternate in Shepardโ€™s place, Josh Babcock, was not accepted as eligible to vote. Gilbert did attend the Dennyโ€™s meeting.

Halajian said if those two votes were counted, it would flip the vote 16-15 in his favor. He said because Kolstad was not properly elected, she could not properly adjourn the meeting, allowing a majority to โ€œreconvene.โ€

โ€œThere is nothing in the bylaws that say we canโ€™t,โ€ Halajian said. He also said there is nothing in the bylaws or Robertโ€™s Rules of Order that would prevent Brooks from voting, even if she was late but arrived before the vote concluded.

Gandrud said he was not familiar with the Fresno County GOP bylaws, but said other counties determine that if a member like Shepard moved out of state, that would vacate the position. It would not matter who the alternate would be. Filling vacant seats in county parties is usually the second order of business in a leadership meeting.

Kolstad also said business continued at the regularly scheduled meeting with โ€œnone of the Complainers challenged the authority of the Chair or Committee to pass the budget. Instead, they accepted the authority of the Chair and Committee to act for the Party.โ€

โ€œThatโ€™s our job,โ€ Halajian said. โ€œWhat would the alternative have been? For us to just turn around and leave and not do our jobs?โ€

Tangipa and Fresno County Supervisors Nathan Magsig and Garry Bredefeld added their names to the Halajian news release.

The Halajian central committee plans to hold a regular meeting Jan. 27 at the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant in Clovis. The Kolstad central committee โ€” which she said is the official Fresno County Republican Party meeting โ€” will meet Jan. 30 at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fresno.

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David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

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