The face of

the Georgia Republican Party changed substantially Saturday with the help

of just over 50 Fayette County Republicans - and a couple of thousand

from across the state of Georgia.

Saturday ended

a spirited race between Ralph Reed, David Shafer and Maria Strollo to

head the state Party.

The two-day

convention was conducted in Cobb County at the Galleria Convention Center.

The main purpose of the convention was to elect new party officers, adopt

resolutions and new rules if presented, and to promote camaraderie among

Republicans.

This year the

name of past Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed attracted media attention

from Georgia to Washington, D.C. and across the country. Speculation by

most political pundits was that the race between Reed and Shafer was too

close to call. Strollo, a long-time party worker with substantial credentials,

was considered a long shot, mainly due to lack of name recognition. Shafer,

who ran for secretary of state in 1996 against Lewis Massey and served

as executive director of the party, attracted a stronger following.

The race between

Shafer and Reed was contentious up to the final vote. Due to the perceived

closeness of the race, many felt there would be more than one vote in

the state chair race. A majority is needed for a "win" and party

rules do not force the candidate or candidates with the lowest total to

drop out. In races with three or more, if no one concedes it is possible

for three or more votes to be taken before a candidate agrees to drop

out.

When, after

the first vote, computer problems occurred, almost immediately Reed supporters

began passing out printed flyers stating that it was a delaying tactic

from Shafer was circulated saying it was a delaying tactic by the Reed

campaign. The longer the convention dragged on, the more supporters drifted

off the floor, leaving open the possibility for either a loss of voters

needed to make a quorum or an erosion of voting strength for candidates.

Ultimately

the vote counting was done the slow "old-fashioned" way, manually,

bypassing the computers. The convention, which usually lets out early

afternoon, crept well into the evening as the party faithful waited to

see if their candidate would win, or if a second and possibly third vote

would be called for.

Surprising

most, with the exception of possibly some in the Reed camp, Ralph Reed

won a strong majority on the first vote. The final tally was 1,462 votes

for Reed, 868 for Shafer and 88 for Strollo.

Despite the

somewhat bruising tactics of the race between the top two candidates,

Shafer and Strollo both called for party unity and Shafer pledged to support

the new chairman.

In anther surprise

twist, all but one of the contested slate of candidates selected by the

Nominating Committee to fill other state offices were defeated. The Nominating

Committee is charged with interviewing and reviewing the candidates for

each office. They select a slate which is presented to the convention

body for a vote. Nominations may be made from the floor for challengers.

Fifth vice chairman-west candidate Nancy Rinn from Muscogee County was

the only candidate on the recommended slate with opposition to win.

State Rep.

Lyn Westmoreland was honored at the convention as the Republican Legislator

of the Year. U.S. Rep. Mac Collins briefly spoke to the crowd, as did

seven other Republican congressmen. House Majority Whip Tom Delay was

the keynote guest speaker.

Local elected

officials attending the convention as 3rd District delegates were state

Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, Rep. Kathy Cox, County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn,

Commissioner Herb Frady and state Solicitor Steve Harris. County Commission

candidate Peter Pfeifer served as a delegate and candidate Steve Ott served

as an alternate. The county was allotted 60 slots for delegates and had

a final voting strength of 51.

Bill Byrne,

chairman of the Cobb County Commission, and Linda Schrenko, state superintendent

of schools, announced their candidacy for governor. State Rep. Bob Irvin

(Atlanta) announced that he had filed to run for the U.S. Senate seat

currently held by Max Cleland.

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