Back in December, town resident Amy Carnevale announced that she would throw her name into the pool of committee members who were running for the Massachusetts GOP committee chair.
On Tuesday night, she was elected to the position, defeating Jim Lyons in a 37-34 vote on a second ballot.
“I was pleased by the results of the election last night and I am looking forward to the start of a new chapter for the Mass GOP,” Carnevale said in an interview Wednesday morning.
After announcing her bid for chair, Carnevale emerged as a frontrunner to unseat Lyons, who was running for a third-consecutive term and had been the center of controversy over the last few months in regards to potential campaign finance violations.
Her election marks a new direction for the party. After a poor showing by Republicans in the November elections, committee members were calling for new leadership in the Mass GOP after Lyons failed to increase party engagement and further divided the party. Carnevale said that the votes on Tuesday show that party members are devoted to competing for seats and returning the strength to the party.
“The vote by the state committee sends a signal that the party wants to be competitive at the ballot box once again,” she said. “I’m taking the vote as a sign that we need to do a better job reaching out to not only Republicans , but enrolled voters and earning their trust and support for our candidates.”
Though the election took place just days ago, she is already preparing for the work ahead. She said her first piece of business is to focus on the party’s financial standing, which has gone into a deficit.
“The party has actually gone into the red, so I’m starting out in a deficit situation, so its understanding initially what the party owes to vendors and trying to raise money to put us on a strong footing to support our operations and fund candidates.”
