Recall of pro-Trump Republican National Committeeman for Oregon fails

'I think the recall failing shows that the people did not treat me fairly,' committeeman Solomon Yue said. The party disputes his claims.

By Charlotte Hazard

Published: June 3, 2023 5:58pm

Updated: June 4, 2023 10:34pm

The recall of a pro-Trump Republican National Committeeman for Oregon failed Saturday.

The final vote was 80 for recalling committeeman Solomon Yue, and 50 against, leaving the measure 7 votes short of the threshold required for recall.

"I think the recall failing shows that the people did not treat me fairly," Yue said in a phone interview with Just the News. "They violated my due process rights, including our own bylaws because a third party has to see what's going on, which did not happen."

Yue believes the petition to recall him was at least partially due to his meeting with former President Donald Trump, who promised to hold a rally in Oregon.

Yue told Trump that the state could be flipped to Republican. The former president agreed to hold a rally in Oregon, and four days later, the recall petition was circulated by the state GOP.

Yue said he has never received an official copy of the recall petition. There was an unofficial petition that was found online that includes 22 charges against him, including one alleging he undermined then-RNC Chairman Michael Steele in 2010 and another alleging he targeted then-RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in 2016.

Adam Waite, the Communications Vice-Chair for the Oregon Republican Party, on Sunday disputed some of Yue's allegations, including that Trump was a factor in the recall. "During the meeting, delegates were asked to raise their hands if they voted for Trump, and every hand in the room was raised, Waite noted.

Waite also said the petition was published by the party's secretary to the entire voting body and that the Oregon Republican Party's independent counsel personally verified the signatures, satisfying the "3rd party" requirement.

Yue led an RNC executive committee investigation into Steele, which found he used committee funds on personal expenditures. Steele lost reelection for the RNC chairmanship to Priebus.

Yue supported McDaniel’s challenger in the RNC chair election this year, Harmeet Dhillon. Yue said he did so after receiving more than 2,000 emails from grassroots constituents requesting that he support Dhillon, compared to only two for McDaniel.