Battle of the Constitution Party Conventions!

So, how does this work?

Lora Hubbel provides notice of an August convention the day before the abortive July Constitution Party convention, claiming she’s Chairman.

Lori Stacey provides notice of an August convention the day after the abortive July Constitution Party convention, claiming she’s Chairman.

If Lora Hubbel is chair, how is she chair since she’d resigned, and left the Constitution Party in the meantime, and was a Republican for a while.  If Lori Stacey is chair, what about that letter from Frank Fluckinger, the national chair removing her from office?

Get the popcorn!

The SOS has responded:

Got that? Good.

25 thoughts on “Battle of the Constitution Party Conventions!”

      1. The “short bus” analogy is clever, but the constant references to mental health on this blog have worn extremely thin. No one among us is in perfect mental health. That isn’t a valid excuse for disrespecting each other.

        Lori Stacey spent the better part of a year working almost single-handedly to recruit Constitution Party candidates and prepare for the state convention. What happened to her last week was a terrible injustice.

        Even if the letter of the law has somehow removed Lori from the chair, I’m pretty sure Frank Fluckiger and Lora Hubbel both owe her an apology for the way they’ve handled this. They also owe a debt of gratitude to Secretary Krebs for the professionalism with which she’s handling it.

        1. Agree that Secretary Krebs is owed a debt of gratitude. She’s handled this whole irregular… situation with poise, aplomb, and professionalism. In her place, I probably would have grown frustrated, lost my cool, & mispronounced Fluckinger

        2. THE SHORT BUS? Is that hateful reference to special needs children? The C.P. may be dysfunctional and acting like spoiled children on a sugar high, but, that is no reason to disparage special needs children by comparing them to the dysfunctional and childish few in the C.P. !

  1. Hubbelites meet @ 9:00 a.m.
    Staceyites meet @ 11:00 a.m.

    That means we can go to both conventions and make it to Bob’s by 1:00 p.m. and the Legion deck at 5:00 p.m.

    Me thinks Pierre is the place to be August 14.

    1. Done deal, see you there. Based on their stated attendance at the last one, we can buy a round for the whole convention and have one left in the 12-pack to split.

  2. All that is needed now is Chad Haber, Strananhan, CJ, Shaggy & Scooby Doo to show up on August 14th too.

  3. how can lora retain the constitution party chair while she ran for the district 9 Senate seat as a republican? Wouldn’t claiming to be chair and sending a notice to the sos office be filing a false legal document and mail fraud?

  4. How can SOS accept a notice of convention from anyone that isn’t a legitimate chair of the party? Does this mean Mickey Mouse can send an email to SOS calling a convention and the SOS will post the letter and let the convention be held?

  5. 12-5-17. Biennial state convention–Time and place–Notice to secretary of state. Each political party shall hold a state convention in each even-numbered year in which they are necessary for the purposes of § 12-5-21. The time and place of holding such convention shall be determined by the State Central Committee of each political party, the chairman of which shall notify the secretary of state at least thirty days previous to the date so chosen.

    Shantel is not following the law. She is accepting convention notices from people who are not legitimate chairs.

    1. This is a headache the Constitution Party has imposed upon Shantel’s office. As she explicitly says in her letter above, it isn’t within her discretion or authority to determine who the state chair is. Sooner or later someone in the party will have to give in or lawyer up.

  6. So what’s the solution? First one to get a slate of candidates delivered to the SOS office wins?
    Or will our ballots be printed with candidates for “Constitution Party I” and “Constitution Party II?”

    And will they all have to be included in forums and debates or can the organizers of those events tell them to get lost?
    How about if the candidates representing the Democrat and Republican Parties mutually agree to boycott any event where this clown show is allowed to participate?

    1. Democrats and Republicans routinely boycott events where alternative parties are invited to participate. That’s pretty much standard operating procedure, and it’s probably the biggest reason forum organizers exclude alternative parties.

      The best solution for the Constitution Party would be to admit Lora Hubbel resigned as chairperson in February of 2017 and recognize the validity of Lori Stacey’s July 15 convention notice. Then Lori should voluntarily resign and the party should meet to determine who’ll be its chair going forward.

  7. Ok, so the dating of Stacey’s letter shows it is a REACTION to the convention falling apart on Saturday, July 14…Hubbel’s hand written notice with what looks like a “cut & paste” letterhead lifted from some website is dated the day PRIOR to the convention meaning Hubbel knew it would devolve into chaos and collapse under the weight of all the Constitutional members putting on their foil headgear and hopping aboard the Terry Train. Then the SOS office makes note that the convention part 2 must be certified to its office by 5 pm on August 15 (but that’s the day of the convention)…is it too early to start drinking?

    1. Convention nominations have to be certified to the secretary of state’s office by August 14, not August 15. That’s probably why Constitution Party members are planning to hold their August 14 re-convention in Pierre.

      South Dakota law requires the party to give 30 days’ notice before it convenes. If Lora Hubbel really believed Lori Stacey hadn’t been reinstated as chair in 2017, then Lora may have filed her July 13 notice as a precaution in case Saturday’s convention (with notice previously given by Lori) was ultimately deemed invalid.

  8. hey, pat look up constitution party on sd sos website shows the change in chairman filed feb 2017 to new chair after lora hubbel’s resignation

    1. As Secretary Krebs explains in her letter above, that was a campaign-finance filing pursuant to SDCL 12-27-2 and not the certification of a new chairperson pursuant to SDCL 12-5-24. It sounds like she’s still willing to accept the certification of Lori as chair, and I’d advise the party to file that certification before making any further effort to remove her.

      If I end up on a witness stand, I’ll testify that—paperwork aside—the party definitively reinstated Lori as chair in February of 2017 and universally recognized her as such for well over a year.

  9. i was convention secretary, and for the convention and checking all the voter registrations and at that time Lora Hubbel was still listed as republican on 605 ap and did not bring any proof of new registration with her, when this was discussed and i informed her she could not keep her nomination and not vote, at that time she wanted to kick me out and cancel the current convention.

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