The Trumbull County Republican Party’s executive committee will meet Thursday to nominate a candidate to serve on the board of elections because the initial process was done improperly, creating a firestorm.

The executive committee met Jan. 27 at party headquarters in Howland with Robert Carr, who owns an insurance agency and is a former party first vice chairman, getting nominated to the board seat on the fifth ballot. A party nomination of a board of elections member has to be approved by the Ohio secretary of state.

Shortly after the Jan. 27 vote, Niki Frenchko, the party’s auxiliary chairwoman who sought the elections board nomination, pointed out that Carr was improperly nominated at that meeting by someone who doesn’t serve on the executive committee. Frenchko, a former county commissioner, said she plans to again seek the elections board nomination Thursday.

“The officers had an opportunity to demonstrate transparency, willingness to follow bylaws and the (Ohio Revised Code) and show a version of the Republican Party that, in my opinion, has been absent” for a few years.

She added: “Standing up for what is right is often met with attack,” and “they have retaliated against me for opposing them.”

Carr beat Frenchko and Arno Hill, who was the incumbent board of elections member, in the Jan. 27 vote.

“Fortunately, some were brave enough to call the new meeting to ensure Arno Hill, myself and others will have a chance to win or lose fairly,” Frenchko said.

Party Chairwoman Julia Shutt described Thursday’s meeting as “a reconstruction of what happened before. It’s a reenactment to correct an error so we respect those who went through the process.” She said Carr will have the support to again win the nomination.

Shutt said: “There was no intention of misrepresenting our bylaws regarding the nominating process. We will reconstruct our recommendation for the BOE seat through the GOP bylaws nomination and election procedure. The nominations will only be accepted by those executive committee members present. My intention is to make sure the process of a possible redo is accurate, and to be clear, this event should not be used to campaign for more votes or a different outcome.”

After the Carr vote, other party officers told Frenchko they opposed another meeting despite her insistence.

In a text message to Frenchko after the vote, Shutt said: “Niki, (I) hear what you are saying. This is an opportunity for you to work with the team consensus. My job is to look at the big picture and lead us. Let’s learn from this mishap and move forward without a redo.”

Shutt texted Frenchko that “optics are important,” and “the solution here is to select a parliamentarian for future meetings that we are confident in.” Shutt also wrote: “As for continuing this discussion to others outside this officers’ board, I insist you stop. It is a (poor) reflection of not only you, but the board and the GOP.”

Frenchko persisted. A Feb. 2 notice signed by five executive committee members, including Frenchko, called for the Thursday meeting to “take corrective action related to the (Jan. 27) vote for the board of elections recommendation due to an error. This meeting will be extremely brief. In (an) effort to promote transparency, compliance and correctness, this meeting is being called by the undersigned executive committee members.”

Under the party’s bylaws, an executive committee meeting can be held if five members sign a notice calling for it.

Shutt said some executive committee members agree the Carr nomination was incorrectly done, while others disagree.

“I’m trying to be clear, concise and even-tempered,” Shutt said. “These things happen and we want to resolve it internally.”

She added: “GOP meetings are where we must air our differences and grievances. We must use adversity and a difference in opinion to show that we can work together in a civil manner.”

At a Feb. 4 party officers’ meeting at headquarters, two days after the letter was sent, Frenchko’s letter and Thursday’s meeting were heated topics of discussion.

During that meeting, several Republican officers accused Frenchko of throwing two large lemons at Marleah Campbell, the party’s secretary, with one hitting her in the chest. Frenchko denies throwing the lemons.

Howland police were called and no charges were filed.

In a Saturday letter to executive committee members, Frenchko wrote: the party officers “insisted that I not share this mistake with the body and told me to agree with the consensus. I am a woman of integrity with an inability to deceive you so I worked to call this meeting. This angered the officers.”