Villa Park Councilwoman
Deborah Pauly has been removed from a county GOP leadership post following a string of provocative statements criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike.
Pauly, who bills herself as a Tea Party activist wanting to reform the Republican Party, has made headlines for condemning speakers at an Islamic charity event, for comparing Democrats’ health-care reform to sodomy and rape, for criticizing fellow council members, for accusing county GOP Chairman
Scott Baugh of corruption, and for standing up for a member of the GOP’s governing Central Committee who sent out
an email portraying President
Barack Obama as a chimp.
Earlier this month,
Pauly made headlines when a supporter sent out a letter touting her county supervisor candidacy that used letterhead from a presidential campaign of
George Wallace, who long supported segregation.
The Central Committee voted 47-16 at its Monday meeting to remove Pauly as the county party’s first vice chairman. That’s a turnaround from the group’s
narrow January 2011 vote to give her the post over blogger, activist and former state GOP executive director
Jon Fleischman.
Pauly said her removal was orchestrated by Baugh to help fellow Republican
Todd Spitzer beat her in the June 5 election for an open county supervisorial seat.
“You are being used as pawns in a game,” Pauly told Central Committee members before Monday’s vote. “This action is being taken tonight for one reason only – to help Mr. Spitzer have one magnificent hit piece to send out on the first of June, just before the election.”
Baugh, who had made the motion to remove Pauly, then asked Spitzer if he intended to use Pauly’s removal in a hit piece. Spitzer replied that he would not spend “one red cent” on such an effort. Baugh supports Spitzer’s candidacy but is not actively campaigning for him.
Baugh told the committee that “dozens and dozens” of Republicans had complained to him about Pauly.
“Her comments often go from provocative to incendiary,” he told the committee. “The methodology to provoke a reaction at the base level of human nature is not always wise. In fact, it’s often detrimental to our reputation.”
Baugh said complaints about Pauly often focused on her attacks on Baugh himself.
“It’s increasingly difficult to unite our party because of this,” he said.
Pauly didn’t back away from her criticism.
“I did see corruption,” she said of her initial decision to run for Central Committee. “I saw a system that had been gamed.”
Pauly offered no apologies for other statements, which included a rally outside a Yorba Linda event for an Islamic charity at which
she condemned two of the speakers.
“I know quite a few Marines who would be very happy to help these terrorists to an early meeting in paradise,” she said at the February 2011 rally.
At Monday’s meeting, she portrayed herself as representing constituents who are largely overlooked by Republican leaders.
