A Good Report: All About the Taunton Republican State Committee Caucus

FROM OUR PRINTED, APRIL EDITION of THE BOSTON BROADSIDE

by Mark Swan

Wareham Republican Town Committee Chairman

We knew the RINO establishment would try pulling shenanigans in Taunton regarding the State Committee caucus on March 27th. First of all, in our First Bristol and Plymouth district we have eight Republican town committees and one giant Eighth Ward Taunton Republican City Committee.

Establishment State Committeewoman Kim Palmer moved south last year, which created a vacancy. So the head of the Taunton RINO establishment Mayor Shauna O’Connell and her people stacked most of the Taunton wards with members just before last year’s GOP convention. They had nearly a hundred names which outnumbered all the surrounding town committees.

But to their surprise, only a handful actually went to the convention. Jim Lyons, the best chairman of the MassGOP we’ve ever had, organized the best convention we’ve ever been to. The theme of the convention was “protecting the unborn.” To the pro-abortion RINO establishment, the idea of protecting the unborn is anathema.

Their guy, Chris Doughty (who was Charlie Baker 2.0), was handily defeated by our guy, Geoff Diehl (the people’s choice). Then, to the RINO establishment’s dismay, Geoff Diehl went on to win the primary. During this time the RINO members of the State Committee were boycotting Jim Lyons and all of our conservative candidates across the state.

The State Committee treasurer illegally froze the MassGOP’s bank accounts so that they couldn’t pay their bills nor financially help our candidates. Also, as a result of the boycott they could not do any other business because of the lack of a quorum. Our State Committeeman Mark Townsend was part of this malaise.

Because Chairman Jim Lyons was a pro-life champion, he would not bow to the politically correct RINO establishment and submit to their bully tactics (Judy Crocker comes to mind). There was a smear campaign against Jim Lyons masterminded by Amy Carnevale, labeling good man Jim Lyons as a bigot and racist. There were a number of cowardly fake accounts smearing, defaming and falsely accusing Jim Lyons.

The biggest coward in all this was Charlie Baker, who formed a number of phony PACs to funnel his dark money to RINO candidates all over the state. In fact, the RINO establishment under Baker intentionally undermined all of our candidates, blanking Geoff Diehl in the tens of thousands in the gubernatorial election last year. Baker’s PACs even donated huge sums of money to Democrats!

Fast forward to Taunton. Because Taunton is a city, it’s ripe for corruption and fraud. In the past, Taunton would determine all political outcomes in our district. It’s why we have Democrats in this area, like Marc Pacheco as state senator. And all the Republican representatives like Susan Williams Gifford are the worst RINOs in the state.

I downloaded the paperwork of all the Taunton wards. Suspicious thoughts were going through my head, like, “Did they just write in all these names and not vote them in at regular meetings? Have these people ever even been to an RCC meeting? Are they registered Republicans? And to what length would the RINO establishment go to get these people here to vote for Susan Williams Gifford? Would they offer money?” I wouldn’t put anything past these people.

So come to find out they did have some tricks planned. They would have the caucus in Taunton. (To make it easy to get their Taunton people there to vote.) Then they called for a (pep rally) meeting of all the Taunton wards just one hour before the caucus and at the same venue!

So, Gifford was their choice. And Maria Collins was our choice. Leading up to the caucus on March 27th they pulled every trick in the book to get Gifford in there. They went to the OCPF to eliminate as many of our eligible voting members as they could. But we were prepared. The town committees downloaded their own watermarked copies of their memberships and brought them with us to the caucus. A number of us showed up early to watch-dog this highly suspicious meeting they were having to try and get their Taunton voters there. Come to find out that Gifford was invited to this meeting and not Maria Collins. How clever these people think they are.

So we were armed with facts. And when they tried to eliminate three of our members from voting, switching them to a provisional ballot, we fought back and thanks to State Committeeman Steve Fruzetti’s watchful eye and advocacy, we won and our three members they tried to eliminate were allowed to vote.

One bold woman with a Trump 2024 shirt stood up and pointed out how unfair it was to have Gifford speak and not Maria Collins. So, they reluctantly allowed Maria Collins to speak. She presented herself so well and I could tell that the people could really relate to her. There’s nothing phony or politically correct about Maria Collins. She doesn’t act like an elitist. Rather, she is perceived as one of us, one of the people.

So, it came time for nominations. Peter Linhares from Bridgewater nominated Maria Collins. He had a wonderful speech prepared, but they wouldn’t let him give it. I was supposed to second Maria’s nomination, but so many others beat me to the punch. Then Mark Townsend nominated Susan Williams Gifford, to which I heard someone whisper, “that figures.” Mayor Shauna O’Connell seconded, to which someone else whispered again, “that figures.” Nominations were closed.

Gifford got up first to give her speech. And then Maria got up to give hers. The cheering was much louder for Maria. It was a good sign. After the speeches we were allowed a short recess.

As I floated around the room, looking for shenanigans, I bumped into Maria. She whispered to me with a grin that people were pouring in and expressing their support for her. Then it came time for the vote. Fortunately, it was not done in secret, rather right out in the open. Maria Collins … Maria Collins … Maria Collins … Maria Collins … Maria Collins … Susan Williams Gifford … Maria Collins.

Soon the bin was empty and Maria Collins won by a more than a two-to-one margin. Even the three provisional voters from Dighton were for Maria. The crowd roared and cheered for Maria. There was no call for a recount. Maria won! The people won! MAGA won! The establishment lost! Many were saying it was a miracle. There were many prayers being prayed to God to find favor with Maria Collins. Prayers for wisdom and courage were being lifted up. Maria knew that ultimately this election was in God’s hands. Thus, Glory To God was in order!

Congratulations to Maria Collins, our new First Bristol and Plymouth State Committeewoman. She will undoubtedly help the town committees grow and embrace the people that the GOP establishment has been shunning and undermining for years. God bless you, Maria! ♦