The Ohio Republican Party has a new leader. Matt Borges, the party’s acting executive director, will take over as Chairman in June. Borges, who was supported by Governor Kasich and Republican leaders, won by a large margin, 48 to 7, over tea party activist Tom Zowistowski. He says there’s a difference in goals between his supporters and party loyalists.
"They’re about electing candidates. What do we want? We are only electing candidates to have policy," says Zawistowski. "Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, you want policy. But we are not getting the policy. We are just getting the candidates and that’s where the system breaks down."
Zawistowski says he and his supporters are going to weigh their options now. He says those include running their own slate of candidates in the G O P primary or possibly running a third party candidate. When asked if he’s worried about that last option, new Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges responds this way:
"We certainly don’t want them to do that. I hesitate to use words like “they” and “them”. These are all members of our Republican family."
Borges says the party will continue to side with conservatives on important issues.