EDITOR’S NOTE: Gene Comiskey is the former treasurer of the Polk County Republican Party, based in Columbus.

On  Saturday April 26, both the 11th and 14th Districts of the North Carolina Republican Party held their annual conventions. 

I had been selected as a delegate to the 14th District convention, but because Polk County’s representation is split between both districts, I had decided to drive to Waynesville on Saturday morning to canvas the delegates attending the 11th’s convention. 

While outside Tuscola High School, I handed out flyers and spoke to the delegates about the problems in Polk County. 

As I was doing this, in a display of arrogance and authoritarianism so typical of her, Michele Woodhouse confronted me and demanded that I leave, saying I had no right to be there and couldn’t hand anything out. 

I responded that it was a public space and that I had every right to be there. 

She again demanded that I leave. 

I told her that I wasn’t leaving and she couldn’t make me. 

I learned later that she asked a sheriff’s deputy to remove me, but he told her that there was no justification for that. 

Later that afternoon, while attending the 14th District convention in Forest City, I received the news that Merry Guy had won the chairmanship of the 11th District, soundly defeating Woodhouse. 

Merry Guy’s defeat of Woodhouse exhilarated me because it has ramifications on several levels. 

The recent elections to chairman of Greg Beam in Henderson County and Rondell Lance in Buncombe County were positive signs for MAGA Republicans in Western North Carolina and the ousting of Michele Woodhouse confirms a feeling of optimism. 

Unfortunately, there is still a black cloud over Polk County and its name is Robin Wierzbicki.

The defeat of Woodhouse, however, is also a significant defeat for Wierzbicki, who was a Woodhouse sycophant. Wierzbicki’s support is now restricted to a few members of the Good Old Boy network in Polk County. 

There is a long story behind Robin Wierzbicki’s grasping for power, including trying to prevent the election of Jennifer Hargett to the Polk County Commission (as a favor to the Good Old Boys) and then “trespassing” 10 MAGA Republicans, including myself, preventing them from attending meetings and even our own county convention this past March (all with the connivance and approval of Michele Woodhouse).

Wierzbicki stage-managed the Polk County convention, preventing her opponents from attending, controlling the convention process and bringing in a massive police presence to intimidate people. 

Much of Wierzbicki’s machinations are an attempt to cover up the financial malfeasance that she is responsible for. 

Hopefully, recent events may bring the scandal in Polk County sufficiently into the light so that Republican Party leaders are forced to take action. 

The March convention of the Polk County Republican Party must be abrogated and all necessary steps taken to redo the convention and restore the rights of all of the Republicans of Polk County.