The co-chairman of Iowa’s Polk County Republican Party has stepped down and registered as an Independent, writing in a resignation letter that the GOP is “headed in the wrong direction,” the Des Moines Register reported Tuesday.
Chad Brown told the newspaper he resigned his post on Aug. 5. Brown cited Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) recent comments comparing undocumented immigrants to drug mules as an example of his disagreement with the party, along with its positions on gun control and climate change.
From Brown’s resignation letter, as quoted by the Register:
In 2012, the Polk GOP lost Polk County by over 32,000 votes. Until 2002, Republicans were elected to the State House from Des Moines. In 2012, Republicans lost 2 State House seats in suburban, Republican-leaning districts and came two dozen votes from losing a third. Facts are stubborn things. I think we are now headed in the wrong direction on several fronts and regretfully must step aside.
It’s my opinion that rather than fix the problems that led to such a massive 2012 defeat, the GOP does not seem to seriously want to fix the issues. I think helping a dysfunctional Party that does not want to address its problems is enabling. I do not believe in enabling. I debated this for weeks and am certain this is the only course.
