BREAKING: Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn to step down next week

BREAKING: Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn to step down next week

Embattled Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn will step down at the end of next week, he said this morning, citing competing priorities in his personal, business and political life.Strawn has come under heavy fire recently from presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s backers who think he deliberately refused to acknowledge Santorum’s victory in the caucuses. He said in a letter to Iowa Republicans this morning that Friday, Feb. 10 will be his final day.

“The party is strong and has the resources in place for victory in November,” Strawn wrote. “Now is the time to transition to new leadership.”

GOP party rules say that any vacancy in the chairman job is to be filled by the co-chairman – and in this case, that’s Bill Schickel, a well-liked former state lawmaker and former party secretary from Mason City. The next meeting of the GOP central committee, the party’s board of directors, is Feb. 11.

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In his resignation announcement this morning, he doesn’t mention the controversy over Iowa’s excruciatingly close caucus count – an omission that could further irritate Santorum’s backers.

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/01/31/breaking-iowa-gop-chairman-matt-strawn-to-step-down-next-week/

LETTER:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/section/documentcloud&dckeyword=288460-letter-to-iowa-republicans