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)

The Hits Keep Coming: Young Republicans Head Resigns In Gay Sex Scandal

Glenn Murphy, 33, the newly-elected chairman of the Young Republicans National Federation, who is well known for using the gay marriage issue to promote his candidates, has abruptly resigned amid allegations that he sexually assaulted a 22-year old man at the home of the man's sister. Murphy has already been scrubbed from the YRNF's website and their Wikipedia entry, which is now protected from edits. Jessica Colon is now listed as their chair. Murphy has also resigned as chair of Indiana's Clark County Republican Party.

Responding on the blog Taking Down Words, Murphy's lawyer contends that he has not been arrested or charged with any crime. According to the lawyer, Murphy says what happened was between "two consenting adults." Yet, the police report has already been leaked. Advance In Indiana reports:

In a shocking police report filed by the Clark Co. Sheriff's office, Murphy is accused of sexually assaulting another man on Saturday, July 28, 2007, while he lay sleeping in his bed. The alleged assault of the 22-year-old man took place in the Jeffersonville, Indiana home of his sister following a Young Republican party in which both Murphy and the 22-year-old man had been in attendance. The victim's sister had urged both men to spend the night at her home because of the amount of alcohol the two had consumed during the party. The victim awoke in the morning to find Murphy performing oral sex on him according to the report. When the victim asked Murphy what he was doing, he responded: "He was holding his dick with one hand and sucking my dick with his mouth." The victim then pushed Murphy away, gathered his personal belongings and left. Murphy was later confronted with the charges by the victim's sister according to the report. The sister says Murphy admitted to her that he performed the sex act on her brother. Taking Down Words reports Murphy is being charged with criminal deviate conduct, a Class B felony. The police report also notes that Murphy was accused of committing a very similar act on another man back in 1998. It is unclear why Murphy was not prosecuted for the 1998 incident.

In an email obtained by Truth Caucus, Murphy is claiming that his decision to resign from the Young Republicans is due to a "major contract" his company has landed which stipulates that he hold "no partisan positions". Yeah, right. Just last month, Murphy was sworn into his position as chair of the YRNF by none other than Florida Governor Charlie "Closet" Crist. Ahem.

In a story covering his swearing-in, Murphy said, "I've always been a big believer in the ability of young people to have a big impact on their communities. That’s what the Young Republicans are all about. It's a very different party than it was." Sorry Murph, you're wrong. The Republicans are STILL the party of self-loathing closet cases.