Chairman of the Lewis County Republican Party Mitchel Townsend is stepping down as leader of the organization effective immediately after submitting his resignation to party officials on Monday, June 16.
In Townsend’s resignation email, the former chairman stated that he resigned after being unable to unite local Republicans.
“It has become increasingly apparent that my goal of uniting the party is not possible in my opinion,” the email reads. “I have spent four years and thousands of hours of time for free to help build this party culminating in the last seven months as the chair, thus giving me an informed perspective.”
Townsend was selected in December to serve a two-year term as chair of the Lewis County Republican Party. He followed previous chairman Brandon Svenson.
At that time, Townsend said his main goals as chair would be uniting and modernizing the party.
The call for unity was especially important as the Lewis County Republican Party, despite being in a firmly red district, has faced deep divisions in recent years as a group of moderate conservatives broke away in the summer of 2023 to form a group called the Conservative Coalition of Lewis County.
Townsend warned that without unity and modernization, shifting demographics in Lewis County could lead to the long-time conservative county moving to the political left.
According to a statement from the Lewis County Republican Party, the group’s executive board and precinct committee officers will work to fill the position at the party’s next meeting in July. The location for the July meeting will be moved from Winlock to Chehalis.
In that statement, the party thanked Townsend for his work and said that it would continue to work toward the party’s vision of a prosperous and sustainable future.
“Although Chair Mitchel Townsend recently resigned, we are still pursuing the same vision established by our chair and are especially thankful for the gift of his time demonstrated in his commitment to those goals and wish him the best in his next chapter,” the statement reads. “The Lewis County Republican Party stands united and, together, we will continue to build the future we all want to see.”
When reached by The Chronicle, Townsend chose not to comment on the matter.
Learn more about the Lewis County Republican Party at https://www.lcrpwa.org.
