Local GOP Race in Clay County Strikes Divisive Tone

The political funny season is upon us and primary elections are beginning to get heated as candidates are pulling out all the stops to win their respective contests. Candidates are even using the likeness and images of elected officials or former Presidents to try and convince voters to vote for them. This appears to be the case in a local GOP race in Clay County, Florida.

Republicans across the country are using the likeness of former President Donald Trump in campaign mailers and other literature in hopes that the MAGA base of the Republican Party will believe the former President supports them.

Trump’s support translates into votes, so we all get the strategy.

In Clay County, Florida, Republicans appear to have turned on Tanya Kacsan in the Clay County GOP Committeewoman race.

Kacson is accused of going on social media and voicing her complaint about how the Republican Party in Clay is just not good enough.

Kacson is also accused of attending REC meetings in Clay to complain in person. On Monday, the 24th of June, at the monthly Clay REC meeting, which had in attendance and as a guest speaker RPOF chair Evan Power, Kacsan complained that the Republicans in Clay County have no “depth.”

Although Kacsan feels this way about the Clay Republicans, she ensured that her homemade palm cards had images of well-known local elected officials. Including Congressman Aaron Bean, who she is said to frequently criticize, and Erin Skipper, who sits on the Clay County School Board and is also running for Clay County Republican Committeewoman.

Kacsan, who is the Moms for Liberty Chapter Chair of Clay County, attends school board meeting after school board meeting complaining about books and encouraging others in the community to also advocate for the banning of books

The Clay County Republican Committeewoman plays a significant role within the local and state party. After all, she will promote the aims of the party. Work in cooperation with the local REC and the RPOF, and assist in the organization and work for the nomination and election of party candidates, the very candidates she claims have no “depth.”

Erin Skipper, who is considered to be frontrunner in the race and known for her conservative ideas, along with her other school board members are responsible for facilitating positive change within the Clay County school district, even when the board is confronted by Kacsan.

Skipper currently serves on the Clay County REC board and is an alternate and will be in Milwaukee in July. She has been endorsed by a number of her fellow Republican elected officials in Clay County, including property appraiser Tracy Drake and her fellow School Board Colleagues- Beth Wilson Clark, who just won re-election and was unopposed, and Michelle Hansen who was elected in 2022 along with Skipper.

The race is up in the air between Kacsan and Skipper. These local Republican Executive Committee races usually do not get the amount of media attention or voter turnout, but his one could.

Moms 4 Liberty carries considerable political weight in Florida, so Kacsan could have an inside track on election night, but like all elections, this race could turn out to be as fluid as every other race.