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Tea Party leader resigns, considers GOP post

Rob Scott, a 29-year-old attorney who was elected to Kettering City Council in November, said he plans to stay involved in the Dayton Tea Party chapter, which he founded three years ago.

x Rob Scott, a 29-year-old attorney who was elected to Kettering City Council in November, said he plans to stay involved in the Dayton Tea Party chapter, which he founded three years ago.

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By Jeremy P. Kelley, Staff Writer 11:12 PM Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Rob Scott stepped down as president of the Dayton Tea Party last weekend and said he is definitely considering a run for chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party.

Scott, a 29-year-old attorney who was elected to Kettering City Council in November, said he plans to stay involved in the Dayton Tea Party chapter, which he founded three years ago.

“I want to work toward getting more conservatives elected,” Scott said Wednesday. “If being county chairman is the best way to unelect Barack Obama and (Sen.) Sherrod Brown, then I will do it.”

Scott said he was asked to serve as county chairman by several local elected officials, business leaders and grass-roots Republican officers.

Montgomery County Republican Party chairman Greg Gantt, who has held that post for five years, said Wednesday that he is leaning against running again in April when the party reorganizes.

Gantt said he’s been more involved lately in Columbus, with the offices of Gov. John Kasich and state Auditor Dave Yost, among others. Gantt said he’ll make his final decision on whether to run for county chairman within a few weeks, as the March 6 primary approaches.

Gantt said he doesn’t think the county Republican Party has changed dramatically since the Tea Party came to life three years ago, and said he hasn’t worked closely with Scott.

“They’ve kind of done their own thing,” Gantt said. “I was an officer in the party for 20 years before I became chair, but that’s not a requirement. There may be a couple other people who may consider (a run for chairman).”

Gantt wouldn’t name any potential candidates. The county chairman is elected by the party’s central committee members.

Gantt said one change he has seen in the party in recent years has to do with strict ideology.

“Part of my frustration is that some Republican is on TV and makes a statement, and either the Tea Party or rank-and-file Republicans say he’s straying from conservative ideology,” Gantt said. “People forget the local Republican Party is made up of hundreds of thousands of different people, and they can advocate certain policies. ... I have a quote from Ronald Reagan on the back of my business card that says, ‘My 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy.’ ”

County Democratic Party chair Mark Owens said he wouldn’t worry too much about what the local Republicans did, saying his focus was just on putting up strong local candidates.

“We let them handle their business,” Owens said. “I’ve enjoyed working with Greg; he’s an honorable man. I don’t know a lot about Mr. Scott.”

Gantt said party changes come in cycles. He said when he started in 2007, “it was probably as low as our brand could be,” after Ken Blackwell got just 36 percent of the vote in the governor’s race against Ted Strickland. But then in 2010 Republicans swept state offices.

“Where the rubber hits the road is how long these cycles last,” Gantt said. “I hope it carries into the 2012 elections, but no one knows.”

The Dayton Tea Party board of directors last weekend elected Clayton resident Don Birdsall as the group’s president for a two-year term. Birdsall had been vice president under Scott.

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