After Trump election, battle continues over MassGOP chair

BOSTON — As the fallout over Donald Trump's stunning victory last month continues, MassGOP chair Kirsten Hughes is facing a challenge from anti-tax activist Steve Aylward, who is seeking to ride the wave of grassroots support for Trump in Massachusetts in next month's party election.

A fight over the party's top spot could become a test of the establishment's hold over the state party — Gov. Charlie Baker has endorsed Hughes, but in an echo of the Trump insurgency, Aylward, who went public with his candidacy in October, says he has the support of grassroots activists. He won the endorsement of the Boylston Republican Town Committee last week.

Aylward challenged Hughes to a debate last weekend, but Hughes has not responded, telling POLITICO Massachusetts on Wednesday that Aylward “said he was going to run before and he hasn’t pulled the trigger. I want to wait and see if he’s actually running.”

Aylward said this is the first time he made a “formal commitment” to run for the chairmanship, doing so by sending an email to state committee members announcing his intentions. He does not have an online presence for his campaign.

Aylward said that more than 20 Republican town committees have backed him.

"She should debate. She owes all Republicans in the state a debate," he said.

Hughes announced last month that she had essentially locked up another term as party chair with 42 pledged votes from state committee members. Forty-one votes from the state committee's 80 members are needed to win.

But Aylward is skeptical of Hughes' claim.

“I think a lot of those votes are weak,” Aylward said. “I don’t do business the same way. I don’t think it’s good practice to ask people to commit to you before they’ve heard debates.”

A date for the party chair election hasn’t yet been set, but will likely take place in late January, according to the party.

Aylward, a conservative activist who helped lead a successful gas tax repeal ballot measure in 2014, portrays his candidacy as a microcosm of the split in the national GOP.

“The fight on the state committee is people who want to reform the party against the establishment,” Aylward said. “I’m glad Trump brought it to light.”

Baker caught heat earlier this year after publicly backing moderate candidates for the state committee and subsequently pushing out more conservative members. Those moderate members then helped a Baker-backed candidate for national committee woman, Keiko Orrall, oust conservative-aligned incumbent Chanel Prunier in April.

Aylward blames the state party for not doing more for the Trump campaign during the general election, which Hughes refutes. Trump received just over 1 million votes on Election Day in Massachusetts while Hillary Clinton received just shy of 2 million.

“Leadership at MassGOP didn’t get behind Donald Trump,” Aylward said. “I think the results of the election were disappointing and they continue to be disappointing. While the rest of the country advances, in terms of the party, we did nothing more than hold the line.”

Hughes insists that the party was behind the national ticket. “We had field offices open where we made calls," Hughes said. "We always, in our scripts, mentioned Trump. Massachusetts isn’t exactly a battleground state for the presidential contest. But that doesn’t mean that we didn’t support the ticket." Hughes added that she voted for Trump.

Aylward’s assertion that last month's election was a disappointment doesn’t quite gel with the state party’s current narrative. Republicans on Beacon Hill fended off all of their challengers and added one seat in the House thanks to Will Crocker's victory on Cape Cod — the party’s best showing in a presidential election year in 30 years, Hughes said in a post-election email blast.

That said, GOP-backed ballot questions to lift the state’s cap on charter schools and opposition to marijuana legalization both failed.

“They stood behind two ballot questions that would have been very good for Republicans and both went down in defeat,” Aylward said.

While Aylward had harsh words for Hughes and party leadership, he praised Baker, who was one of Trump’s biggest detractors in the state party. “His best chances for re-election are if I am the chairman,” he said of Baker, who has not announced whether he will seek re-election in 2018. “A lot of Republicans need to be brought back home and I can do that better than Kirsten Hughes.”

Hughes disagrees with Aylward’s assessment of the party.

“We were able, since I’ve joined the party, to add 15 freshmen in the Legislature, we’ve gained nine seats, and we’ve had our most successful presidential election year in over 30 years,” said Hughes, who has held the chairmanship since early 2013. “I feel we’re on a good path and I’m looking forward to keep forging the road ahead.”