Former Arkansas secretary of state hopeful removed from local Republican committee

A former candidate for Arkansas secretary of state is objecting after he was removed from his local Republican Party committee and accused of violating party rules.

Bryan Norris, who lost the March runoff to state Sen. Kim Hammer, said the State Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Arkansas expelled him from the Independence County GOP committee. Pulaski County Chairman Michael White said in a Facebook video he had also been expelled from the Pulaski County Republican Committee.  

Norris said in a news release Friday the complaint against him was filed in July and cited a lawsuit he filed over Independence County officials rescinding a voter-approved measure requiring elections to be conducted using hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots.

The party also took issue with Norris for paying the filing fee of an individual who tried to join the Independence County GOP but withdrew his application after learning he lived outside the county, according to the news release.

UPDATED: Hammer wins Republican nomination for Arkansas secretary of state

Norris narrowly lost the GOP primary runoff to Hammer, who had the backing of top GOP officials and an outside group linked to Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ senior political adviser. His expulsion comes as Libertarian candidates are hoping to capitalize on rifts within the GOP in the midterm election.

Norris endorsed three Libertarian candidates for executive branch offices Thursday after his expulsion from the Independence County GOP. Another charge leading to his expulsion “was that he stated publicly that [Colt] Shelby, the Libertarian nominee for governor, will appear on the November ballot,” Norris’ news release states.

The party’s executive committee did not allow Norris to review the complaint against him and the evidence supporting the charges, he said. He also did not receive a hearing in his home county, and he said this was against the party’s rules.

The Arkansas Republican Party did not comment specifically about Norris or White, but said that “several” members were removed from local committees. The state  GOP said in an emailed statement Tuesday that it made “complete rules reviews” before the removals.

“Members of the party are expected to follow party rules and not work against the interests of the Republican Party,” according to the statement. “If party rules are broken, there will be accountability.”

In the past few days, Norris has expressed frustration via Facebook with the state party’s decision to punish him and White for their social media activity.

White said in his Facebook video that the Arkansas GOP claimed he “publicly showed favoritism” to Norris in a complimentary social media comment during the GOP secretary of state primary race.

Norris’ request for a recount in multiple counties did not change the results. A state judge in June dismissed Norris’ lawsuit challenging the election results.

The state GOP also took issue with White’s apparent support for Shelby’s candidacy against Sanders. White said in his video that posting a photo with Shelby online was not an endorsement.