Who's Who in the MD GOP

from the Baltimore Sun

The president of the conservative political advocacy group Citizens United was elected Maryland's Republican national committeeman on Saturday, unseating a veteran incumbent who held the job for a dozen years -- and signaling a further shift away from establishment figures in the state GOP.

David N. Bossie, a Montgomery County resident, helped to orchestrate the landmark 2010 Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, that allowed nonprofits to spend an unlimited amount of money on federal elections.

Bossie beat Louis Pope, a former chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, who has held the position since 2004. Bossie's win comes four years after conservative Nicolee Ambrose beat longtime party stalwart Audrey E. Scott to become the state's national committeewoman.

The change comes at a compelling time for Republicans both in Maryland and nationally thanks to Donald Trump, the party's presumed presidential nominee. State committee members are voting members of the national Republican Party, and help to establish the party's platform and the rules for the nominating convention.

They are also state party leaders, part of the team that helps set the direction for the state GOP and raise money for its candidates.

Bossie, a former chief investigator for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led Republican investigations of President Bill Clinton's administration, including the Whitewater controversy and a scandal involving political donations from agents of the Chinese government.