Court hearing today
by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First
First published in the March 14 Vermont Standard
The ongoing infighting by members of the Windsor County Republican Committee is moving to the courthouse.
Five Republicans, who claim to be current officers in the Windsor County GOP Committee, have filed a state lawsuit to try to block a meeting scheduled for Saturday to vote on forming a possible new slate of officers.
The lawsuit names Lynn Baldwin of Ludlow, August and Andrea Murray of Perkinsville and Peggy and Earl Dionne of Windsor and the Windsor County Republican Party as the plaintiffs in the case. John MacGovern of Windsor, the purported county chair or former chair — depending on your stance in the case — is the primary defendant.
The co-defendants are the State of Vermont Republican Party and Paul Dame of St. George, the state GOP Chair. MacGovern, a former state legislator in Massachusetts, has become a local lightning rod for some, partly due to his dislike of former President Donald J. Trump, who as of this week had apparently secured the Republican nomination for this fall’s presidential election. Vermont — along with the District of Columbia — is the lone state not to support Trump in the primary election.
Vermont Superior Court Judge H. Dickson Corbett is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing in the case at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 14 at the historic courthouse in Woodstock. The hearing is also available by Zoom through the court.
The plaintiffs are seeking a temporary restraining order from the court to have the Saturday meeting canceled. They also seek a future hearing to consider a preliminary injunction on the claims in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs had requested Judge Corbett, without hearing from the defense, cancel the organizational meeting planned for Saturday.
Corbett, after a thorough legal analysis, denied the so-called “ex parte” hearing and agreed he would have a formal hearing Thursday afternoon with both sides presenting arguments.