Multnomah County Republican Party Plans Recall Vote of Chairman Who Advocated for Diversity

The Multnomah County Republican Party is scheduled to hold a recall vote May 6 for Chairman Stephen Lloyd, in part because he proclaimed that the party should be “open to everyone.”

The recall petition, obtained by WW, claims to have gathered 54 signatures from its 141 members. It accuses Lloyd of “non-transparent, angry micromanagement” and claims that, contrary to the organization’s bylaws, Lloyd did not believe potential members should be required to disclose whether or not they are a registered Republican.

The petition cites a previous quote of Lloyd’s in which he advocated for diversity.

“The Chairman should promote the Party Platform, and not state [that] ‘Diversity is an extremely important part of society and diversity of ideas is what we should be striving for,’” the petitioners wrote. “Or state [that], ‘The only thing we should be focused on when it comes to ideas is bringing more diversity of ideas together because that’s how you make the best stuff in the world.’” (Lloyd confirmed to WW that he made those comments.)

According to the petition, the group also took issue with Lloyd’s attempts to make the meetings more accessible to the public.

“We dare not announce where and when we are meeting in the city of the original Antifa group, Rose City Antifa, which continues to actively hurt people and damage property nightly in Portland!” the petition says. “Stephen [Lloyd] must acknowledge the danger of Antifa attempting to interfere or infiltrate MCRP.”

Lloyd, who was elected as chairman in November, says he advocated for the group to host more open events, such as fundraising dinners, in order to make the organization more “public-facing” rather than “internal.”

“We have a responsibility as a political organization to represent the people in our community,” Lloyd tells WW. “If we can’t be in the community because we’re afraid of being hurt by riotous people or people who are going to assault us, then we can’t do the job that we’re supposed to be doing.”

Lloyd says Multnomah County Republican Party leadership asked him to resign last month, and that he declined. “No matter if you’re in a prayer group or a bowling club, there’s always going to be a little friction,” he says.

The organization’s vice chair and secretary did not immediately respond to WW’s request for comment.