A candidate for Republican State Committee from Lebanon County has announced that she has collected more than three times the number of signatures required to have her name appear on the ballot for the April 22 Primary Election. 

“I want to thank the 300-plus people who signed my petitions,” said Margaret Firoozmand of Cleona.  “I learned a lot as I went door-to-door for signatures.  Basically, the grassroots Republican voters in Lebanon County are tired of not being heard.”

Any candidate seeking to get elected to the Republican State Committee must have a minimum of 100 registered Republicans sign a ballot access petition in order for their name to appear on the ballot.  With more than three times the minimum requirements, Firoozmand believes she has a mandate from rank-and-file Republican voters to pursue a seat on the GOP state committee.

"My message that the Republican Party must be more accountable to ordinary voters and responsive to taxpayers is resonating with people," she said.  "People are genuinely concerned about the Republican Party remaining loyal to its conservative roots and not to privileged elitists within the party leadership."

“Unlike some of the other candidates for State Committee from Lebanon County, I have no connections to the party elite," she said.  “My loyalty and my ties are to the rank-and-file Republicans in Lebanon County.”

In January, Firoozmand, who is a member of the Lebanon County Republican Committee, called on fellow GOP committee members to join her in advocating an open primary for candidates of the state committee, meaning the Lebanon County GOP would have issued no endorsements for those seats. 

Despite Firoozmand’s urging, the Lebanon County Committee issued endorsements on February 7, almost a week before the ballot access deadline and without full knowledge of all potential candidates for state committee.

“I never pursued the party’s endorsement in my bid for State Committee because of what I was hearing from the Republican voters," Firoozmand said.  "They are becoming more and more disgruntled with the endorsement process and with the candidates who are getting endorsed.”

“I think the Lebanon GOP needs to be more receptive to thoughtful improvements.  They should not automatically dismiss the points of view that don't dovetail with the predetermined assumptions of leadership."

Firoozmand reiterated that as a member of State Committee, she would continue to voice the concerns of the voters she meets. 
 

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