For all the chatter about conservatives and Tea Partiers trying to take over the Republican Party by becoming precinct executives, the person who is perhaps the most prominent local conservative lost his race.
Amid the pages and pages of results from the May 4 primary election is the news that attorney Chris Finney, a leader of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), was defeated in his bid for a seat on the Hamilton County Republican Party’s Central Committee.—-
Finney, an Anderson Township resident, ran for the “Anderson F” district, against fellow attorney James S. Ginocchio. Alas, Finney’s neighbors and fellow Republicans preferred Ginocchio, a former assistant city solicitor.
In a squeaker, Ginocchio got 51.04 percent of ballots cast (98 votes) to Finney’s 48.96 percent (94 votes).
Although the tally is close, if Finney can’t win in a year with Tea Party fever sweeping the land, it doesn’t bode well for his future efforts.
The party’s Central Committee is comprised of one person from each precinct in the county. Every two years, the Central Committee elects the party’s Executive Committee, which votes on a party’s policy positions.
