Clark County Republican Party elects new leader

“For serious Republicans to regain control of their own party, the meeting where everyone has to make that happen was (Saturday), and 20 of our people didn’t show up,” she said of the precinct committee officers, who cast votes for the new board members.

Crain said she’s hopeful Gellatly can guide the party to more steady times.

“The new chair is a nice guy,” she said. “He doesn’t strike me as being libertarian, but he may be the only one on the board that isn’t.”

She voiced concerns about Joseph Wagner, who was elected as state committeeman.

Censure attempt

Wagner was behind an effort to censure U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, in 2015. Wagner’s resolution outlined a list of Herrera Beutler’s votes that he believed “established a pattern of voting with Democrats to increase spending, increase the debt and increase regulations.”

In the end, the party did not censure the congresswoman.

Gellatly, 34, who lives in Vancouver and is expecting his first child, a son, in February, said he wouldn’t comment on past actions by the party, but he’s hopeful it’s more inclusive in the future. He also said he didn’t want to give specifics about the local party’s priorities at this stage.

“There’s been some issues that could be improved upon as far as public relations go and inter-party relationships,” he said. “I hope we can find common ground and improve our relationships and public persona that helps us grow the party and work with the business community, and be a partner with them to work on common goals.”

Gellatly is a senior account executive in a third-party logistics firm.