The former chairman of the MassGOP says it’s time for a “new Republican Party” in the Bay State and he’s calling on fellow conservatives to join him.
Ex-party boss Jim Lyons has founded an independent nonprofit political group and scheduled a series of events in the hope of finding “Freedom Fighters” to support his vision for a more conservative Massachusetts.
“We need your help. More importantly, we need your presence. The small number of people financially benefiting from the current alliance between Elite Democrats and Go-Along-To-Get-Along Republicans aren’t going to just walk away. They need pressure put on them. Pressure from ‘We The People,’” Lyons wrote in an email to potential supporters.
“When you join Freedom Fighters, you’re joining an organization committed to networking with like-minded activists across Massachusetts,” he wrote.
The group held their first meeting in Somerset on Saturday, Lyons told the Herald, where dozens joined the former chairman and his wife in launching their efforts at electing their brand of Republicans to a range of offices, from local school boards on up to the State House.
“We believe that the vast majority of grassroots Republicans are America First, in the mold of President Trump. They include everyone from the small business owner to the pro-life volunteer, from the parents fighting obscene materials in schools, to the old-school Tea Party activist fighting to restrain government spending and the inflation it causes,” Lyons wrote.
Lyons was ousted from his position atop the state’s diminished Republican Party in January of 2023, after a disastrous showing in the previous year’s statewide elections.
His replacement, Amy Carnevale, according to Lyons, is allowing a “never-Trumper” to run against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren out of the party’s offices while the chairwoman kowtows to the state’s Democratic party.
Lyons said he isn’t trying to cause a schism in the party or start a new GOP, but that the current crop of Republicans in the state House and Senate have lost touch and helped pass new laws on gender affirming care for minors, protecting abortion providers, and allowing “illegal immigrants” to attend state colleges as if they were residents.
“Conservatives don’t feel like they have a home in the party,” he said. “This is a fight for the soul of Massachusetts. We have to come back to some sense of normalcy.”
The next scheduled event for Lyons’ new group is 10 a.m. on April 13, at the American Legion in Wareham.
The MassGOP did not return a request for comment by press time.