With schisms continuing in the Lexington County GOP, reconciliation seems further and further away.

The party – which is chaired by Pamela Godwin, elected earlier this year – has seen mounting tension among its leadership in recent weeks.

On Aug. 7, two factions within the party held dueling meetings. One was held by 1st Vice Chair Mark Weber and 3rd Vice Chair John Allen, who accuse Godwin of “clos[ing] a party bank account and mov[ing] more than $6,800 of the party’s money — which was supposed to be used for candidate events or to seed other fundraisers — somewhere no one else in the party apparently knows,” The State’s Joseph Bustos reports. The other meeting was led by Pamela Godwin.

Last month saw The Post and Courier Columbia, The State and other local outlets reporting on mounting tension at party meetings, with screaming matches being reported at a special-called party meeting Aug. 3.

Godwin and the Lexington County GOP recently sent out releases accusing a splinter group within the party of spreading misinformation to the media.

An email from an executive committee member shared by Mark Weber, the county party’s first vice chair for the county party, lays out some proposed steps to remedy things between the two factions. The anonymous member said that she and her husband had reached out to both factions, emphasizing that they all used to be on the same team and hoped to reach an understanding. The email states that Godwin was unwilling to discuss her position further after the member gathered more facts, adding that the member’s husband, an attorney, offered to mediate a discussion with the goal of clarifying leaders’ responsibilities so that the party can work together once again.

“The only people willing to come together for this were First Vice Chair Mark Weber, Third Vice Chair John Allen, and Treasurer Jackie Fowler,” the email claims. “All three of these people wanted to continue working with Pamela as Chair, and we believed this was possible. Until Pamela’s side refused to meet.”

“For me, this is about rule violations and fulfilling our duties of office,” the email continues. “I understand there are hurt feelings, particularly coming from Chair Pamela Godwin’s direction. I have been the recipient of that myself and am now on Pamela’s list-of-people-she-ignores. I believe in giving grace, but when there is no desire to remedy or correct one’s missteps, the situation gets trickier.”

Godwin didn’t respond to the Chronicle’s requests for comment, but she is quoted in releases sent out by the Lexington County GOP on Labor Day, one documenting purported successes by the party this summer and another complaining that “an unauthorized, false website claiming to be the website of the Lexington County Republican Party has been launched.”

“A new, counterfeit website, cloned from the content and structure of the official Lexington County Republican Party website was launched in mid-August 2023,” the release states. “The counterfeit website appears to be an attempt to control information and messaging related to the Lexington County Republican Party.”

“It appears a splinter group of the Lexington County Republican Party (LCRP) may be responsible for launching this unauthorized website,” Godwin is quoted.

The email delivering the release notes that the party is seeking counsel regarding next steps in handling the situation with the website and that they will be willing to speak “at the appropriate time regarding what is truly going on in our party and our upcoming plans/goals to strengthen our party.”

“If you report these media releases accurately, we will be happy to provide more information regarding this 'splinter' group that is spreading misinformation to the media,” the email adds. “Actions are being taken to deal with their misconduct and we will have an update soon.We will not tolerate the blatant falsehoods, misinformation and inaccuracies being spewed by this 'splinter' group.”

The second release from the county GOP claims as successes censuring state Sen. Katrina Shealy for “her opposition to the platform of the Republican Party’s pro-life stance,” addressing the Lexington-Richland District 5 school board regarding critical race theory policy, passing a resolution supporting paper ballot voting in elections, activating its team to oppose the stalled Smallwood Cove resort project on Lake Murray, and passing “a Medical Freedom and Bodily Autonomy Resolution against forced vaccination which was adopted by the state Republican Party.”

According to the email provided by Weber, the 1st chair,  the executive members recommended that those unwilling to follow the rules resign. A petition was included, calling for the removal of Godwin. The petition states that Godwin is censured due to the rebuke of the parity’s bylaws and her dereliction of duty as chair.

“Our party believes in following our bylaws and operating in unity for our purpose to promote our platform and elect candidates who will support it!” the petition states.

Other accusations levied by the petition include Godwin putting personal grievances ahead of party businesses, excluding other elected members of the steering committee from steering committee business, and changing regularly scheduled business.

“It's always unpleasant to deal with people that are not following the organization's rules,” Weber said in a statement to the Chronicle. “It’s especially difficult to deal with a Chairman that doesn't follow the organization’s rules or know how to be a real leader of the organization.”

“The party needs to move on and it is sad that some people in her circle of followers don't admit that her behavior, tactics and ‘leadership’ are horrible,” he added. “She has damaged so many relationships and discards people once she has used them for her purposes. I don't believe her pride or ego will leave any room for reconciliation.”