Choice of Entrée: Chicken Picatta or Orange Roughie with Tomato Basil Relish.

Please contact the LCRC office at lebanongop@comcast.net or 717.272.1758 to purchase tickets.

If the Lebanon County Republican Committee ever had a rubber stamp for its decision-making process, it must be lost in one of the dim corners of the Lincoln Republican Club.

Because it sure wasn’t in evidence Thursday night when about 76 of the committee’s 165 members met at party headquarters in Lebanon to endorse local GOP candidates running in the April 24 primary election.

The question of whether to endorse or not has been a lively topic of debate within and outside the Republican committee for many years.

But when push came to shove, history has shown that the rank-and-file party members inevitably get in line to back a chosen candidate.

That scenario didn’t exactly play to form on Thursday night, and it may be because of some rule changes adopted after last year’s power struggle for party leadership.

Under the new rules, proxy voting is not allowed, which means committee members have to be present to cast a vote. And those ballots can now be cast in secret under the new rules.

Because the county Republicans were not voting to endorse GOP presidential or senatorial candidates, the only real suspense was who they would choose in the one contested local race, a three-way contest for the 102nd House Legislative District.

RoseMarie Swanger has held the seat for the past six years but is facing a serious challenge from state Republican Committeeman Tom A. Hawk and county Committeeman Joe Eisenhauer.

Of the committee members present Thursday night, 43 live in the 102nd House District and were eligible to endorse a candidate.

Before deciding who they would endorse, they took a vote on if they would endorse. And by a 23-20 margin they decided they would.

When the dust settled, Swanger easily won the endorsement by a 29-12 margin over Eisenhauer. Hawk garnered two votes.

All three candidates had sought the endorsement by presenting their credentials to committee members on Saturday during a candidates’ convention, said committee Chairwoman Pat Braden.

Swanger said she was pleased to have the party’s backing and is anxious to serve another term.

“I feel confident. It is nice to have the support,” she said. “It certainly is different being in the majority in Harrisburg. The first four years we were in the minority. Now that we are in the majority, we are really advancing our agenda … I like what we are accomplishing, and I want to stay a part of that.”

Eisenhauer took the party’s decision in stride, stating he had asked for an open primary.

He noted that a number of recent Republican candidates, including Swanger herself, were elected without the party’s backing.

“I’m not quite sure what the endorsement means in the grand scheme of things, so we will just move ahead, with all due respect, and present our views to the voters,” he said.

Hawk said he was not expecting to win the party’s endorsement against an incumbent.

“The only endorsement I care about is the people’s endorsement,” he said.

The big surprise Thursday night was that Mauree Gingrich was not endorsed for the 101st House District seat she has held since 2002 when the committee voted 17 to 16 not to endorse the seat.

The odd thing about the non-endorsement is Gingrich faces no opposition in the Republican primary. Barring a third party candidate, Gingrich will also run unopposed in the general election because no Democrat is running.

But Gingrich was not at the endorsement meeting. When reached afterward, she said she was not surprised by the party’s action.

“I wouldn’t expect to be endorsed because I didn’t ask for it,” she said. Gingrich said she feels the party is still seeking an identity after last year’s power struggle, which involved her son, Adam, losing the chairman’s position to Braden.

“I just think the committee structure is split apart. … I’m hoping for changes in April, and I’m just taking a step back,” she said.

Also endorsed by the committee were Jim Gerlach and Charlie Dent, who are running for re-election in the 6th and 15th Congressional Districts, respectively.

The meeting will be held in the Lincoln Republican Club auditorium, 21 South 9th Street in Lebanon. Please use the side doors. Doors will open early for member credentialing.

The event will be held in the auditorium of the Lincoln Republican Club, 21 S. Ninth Street, side door entrance. This provides an opportunity for Lebanon County Republican voter to meet and speak with elected officials and candidates in an informal environment. Please invite your friends, neighbors, and family.

The list of elected officials, who plan to attend, is incomplete. Those responding so far have been: Republican Congressman Charlie Dent, district 15 and Congressman Jim Gerlach, district 6, and Rep. RoseMarie Swanger, district 102.  Lt Governor Jim Cawley and Senator Mike Folmer will attend.