Republican legislators are calling for the resignation of Lebanon County Republican Committee Chairman Casey Long.
“It is with deep regret that we write to request your immediate resignation as Chairman of LCRC,” said State Senator Mike Folmer (R-Senate District 48) and State Representatives Russ Diamond (R-102) and Frank Ryan (R-101) in the letter.
The legislators cite a mailer that was sent by Better PA PAC regarding Lebanon County’s former sanctuary status, calling it “a thinly veiled racist attempt to underscore misinformation touted by (Better PA PAC’s) radio ads.”
They also accuse Long of using the same PAC to obscure his involvement in a smear campaign, calling that particular action “disgusting.”
In the letter, Folmer, Diamond, and Ryan state that Long’s actions have “damaged the Republican brand and threaten the electoral success of every Republican candidate and public official in the county.”
LebTown reached out to Long this morning, and he followed up after our article had been published saying that he rejected the request for his resignation. The following paragraphs were added after publication to reflect Long’s response.
In defense of the claims made by Folmer, Diamond, and Ryan that the Vasquez mailer was “thinly veiled” racism, Long shared a link to a 2017 ICE document that mentions a Lebanon County Correctional Facility policy regarding ICE detainers. “It is an undisputable fact that Commissioner Bill Ames presided over Lebanon County as a Sanctuary County for seven years and did nothing about it,” said Long in the release.
But despite Long’s comments, his claims are disputed, with County Administrator Jamie Wolgemuth saying last month that the motivation of the LCCF policy in question was minimizing legal liability, and not an intent to place the county into any sanctuary status.
“The fact of the matter is that the Lebanon County Republican Committee overwhelmingly rejected the candidacy of Bill Ames by a three to one vote despite the impassioned pleas of Representative Diamond to the contrary,” Long continued.
You can read both the original letter and Long’s response below.
Full Disclosure: Some current Republican party candidates are advertisers on LebTown, including the campaigns of Bill Ames and Bob Phillips. LebTown does not make editorial decisions based on advertising relationships and advertisers do not receive special editorial treatment. Learn more about advertising with LebTown here.
Davis Shaver contributed reporting to this article.