I was there at the meeting March 11th when the special election candidate was SELECTED NOT ELECTED and it was obvious the fix was in.
The Republican conferees(all 132) were all up front closest to the speakers podium. These folks were supposedly representing the wishes of the 106,000 registered Republican voters in the district.
The rest of us (about 100 or so lowly citizens and voters) were at the back of the room segregated from the front by a 20 feet buffer zone and rope poles like you see in theaters (except the ropes were actually sturdy chains).
Rob Gleason, the PA GOP’s version of Tony Soprano, was gladhanding the conferees and ignoring we riffraff in the back of the room as he strutted around like a mother hen about to drop a golden egg.
When Burns spoke, ALL the applause came from the front of the room.
When Russell spoke, almost all of the applause came from the back of the room, and it was loud and sustained.
Afterwards Gleason proudly told the media he voted for Burns himself. He’s the PA GOP Chairman who oversees all the County Chairmen of the 9 counties in the district AND he’s also the Cambria County GOP Chairman. Cambria County had more conferees and more votes there than 7 of the other counties. Gleason’s relatives, cronies and fellow travelers are conferees in every county.
It wasn’t hard to figure out what went down.
If you don't like the local activists running the local county parties - and I've seen both good and bad where I've lived - you can organize and improve things.
Or you can bitch and moan and backstab a conservative Republican nominee because your guy doesn't get along with the local party organization and wasn't chosen.