Audra Sigler Shay Elected Chairman Of Young Republicans

Despite last week's flap that she'd encouraged racist language on her Facebook page, this weekend Audra Sigler Shay was elected the new chairman of the Young Republicans.

Hundreds of delegates from across the country spurned the controversy in voting for leaders at the group's convention at Downtown's Hyatt Regency Indianapolis. Calling the posting political mudslinging, delegates selected Audra Shay, 38, as chairman. She will head the group of up-and-coming Republicans ages 18 to 40 for two years. In a vote closed to media coverage, Shay defeated Rachel Hoff 470-415, according to TheConservativist.com blog. On the online social networking site Facebook, Shay had supported a friend's bashing of President Barack Obama, according to a column on TheDailyBeast.com by John Avlon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. "Elections bring a lot of emotion out of people," said delegate Katherine Miller, 24, Lexington, Ky. "But this controversy really is not the decisive factor for the majority of people voting here. There are so many important issues we are considering."

Shay claims that she had not seen the racist comments that spawned the controversy, although she did un-friend two people who complained about them minutes later.

Young Republicans Leader Audra Sigler Shay Accused Of Racism

The Daily Beast is following a growing rift among the Young Republicans after their vice president Audra Sigler Shay appeared to respond positively to a racist comment left on her Facebook page.

On Wednesday, Shay—a 38-year-old Army veteran, mother, and event planner from Louisiana who has been endorsed by her governor, Bobby Jindal—was holding court on her Facebook page, initiating a political conversation by posting that “WalMart just signed a death warrant” by “endorsing Obama’s healthcare plan.” At 1:52, a friend named listed as Eric S. Piker, but whose personal page says his actual name is Eric Pike, wrote “It’s the government making us commies… can’t even smoke in my damn car… whats next they going to issue toilet paper once a month… tell us how to wipe our asses…” Two minutes later, Piker posted again saying “Obama Bin Lauden [sic] is the new terrorist… Muslim is on there side [sic]… need to take this country back from all of these mad coons… and illegals.” Eight minutes after that, at 2:02, Shay weighed in on Piker’s comments: “You tell em Eric! lol.”

Shay says that she had only seen the first comment when she responded, but noting the time difference between the postings, Daily Beast author John Avlon says Shay's defense strains credibility. Additionally, Shay de-friended two commenters who complained about the racist comment, but kept the guy who made it. Below is a screen-cap of the exchange that started it all. The original thread has been deleted, but the Daily Beast's copy is here. The Young Republicans hold their annual convention in Indianapolis this weekend and this issue is expected to dominate the event.(Via Matthew Rettenmund @ Towleroad)