School board member removed from Republican party

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Baldwin County Republican Party officials voted recently to remove Baldwin County Board of Education member David Tarwater from their party following the revelation Tarwater was endorsing several Democratic candidates, including a candidate seeking Tarwater’s current seat on the BCBE.

In a letter dated March 26, Baldwin County Republican Party Chairman Michael Hoyt spells out their case against Tarwater.

The letter, addressed to Tarwater, reads as follows:

“When you qualified as a Republican candidate for Baldwin County Board of Education Place 2, on January 13, 2012, you executed a document wherein you declared that ‘I am a Republican and I endorse and will actively support the principles and policies of the Republican Party.’ It has been brought to the attention of the Baldwin County Republican Executive Committee that you are actively endorsing and campaigning for the Democratic candidate for your seat and for other Democratic candidates seeking elective office in Baldwin County. This is an unfortunate turn of events and is certainly a disappointment to those Republicans who worked to elect you to office.

“While the Republican Party is a vast and diverse party with a wide range of principles and ideals, the Party must take action when those who have previously declared themselves Republican now support a rival political party - the party of Chuck Schemer, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama. Therefore, based on your active endorsement and support for Democratic candidates, the Baldwin County Republican Executive Committee has voted to remove you from the Party. You may no longer consider yourself a member of the Baldwin County Republican Party and may not hold yourself out to the public as such.”

In a statement sent to The Courier, Tarwater said he will still continue his job as a school board member until the expiration of his term and added he will continue working to help the children of Baldwin County.

“I have always considered a school board members position as the ‘Children’s Seat’ and as such have put the children of Baldwin County over politics and will continue to do so as an elected official until my term ends in November,” Tarwater wrote. “I consider our most important accomplishment as a board was to stabilize funding. I am very grateful to the Baldwin County Commission for their support of our children. I will choose candidates who have always chosen to support solutions that allow for the best educational opportunities for our students.”