Barbara Blackmon vs Jamie Franks

Lets do a quick recap. The Democrats met one Saturday and hired Sam Hall to be their new executive director and rejected Ike Brown’s attempt to return to the state executive committee.

The next Saturday, Democrats met once again. Chairman Jamie Franks was out of town. Vice Chairman Barbara Blackmon conducted the meeting. The reversed course and nullified Hall’s hire and also allowed Ike Brown back onto the committee. Afterward, Franks declared that whole meeting was null and void.

The following Thursday, Chairman Jamie Franks conducted a meeting in which he formally ratified the hiring of Sam Hall. Next he took the fight against Blackmon. Franks appointed Eduardo Martinez as Interim Executive Vice Chair. The next day, Blackmon called a meeting at the Democratic Party Headquarters. WJTV and WLBT attended. The latter reported:

Some members of the state Democratic committee are calling some of the chairman’s actions illegal.

State Democratic Vice Chair Barbara Blackmon says Jamie Franks’ appointment last night of Eduardo Martinez as Interim Executive Vice Chair was unlawful and unconstitutional.

Blackmon says Martinez was not a member of the administrative committee. Therefore cannot serve on it. She also says since Franks is white.

Blackmon says, according to the state Democratic constitution, if the chairman of the party is white, the Executive Vice Chair needs to be African American.

“A Hispanic is not defined as a race. It’s defined as an ethnicity. You cannot inject a Hispanic in that position,” said Blackmon.

Franks says Martinez is of the opposite race of himself and Martinez does not plan to seek the permanent position.

It just doesn’t get any better than this. Maybe next, Blackmon will attempt to unseat Franks as Chairman. Or maybe this will lead to a full split and a return to two parties: The Freedom Democratic Party and the Loyalist Democratic Party. Whatever happens, none of this is good news for the political future of Franks.

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