Paul forces vie for Alaska GOP control

The 2012 Republican presidential primary season is long past, but tensions between Ron Paul supporters and state GOP establishments continue to linger in a variety of states.

In Alaska, where Paul forces wrested control of the state party in April, the transition has especially messy.

From the Anchorage Daily News:

A battle for control of the Alaska Republican Party between the party's establishment and the Tea Party-affiliated new guard is due to play out Thursday evening at Republican headquarters in Anchorage. "I'm not sure what's going to happen tomorrow," said Russ Millette, the incoming party chairman. Millette, incoming vice chairwoman Debra Holle Brown and two other party officials are facing internal party complaints filed by outgoing chairman Randy Ruedrich and the chairman of the party's rules committee, Frank McQueary. If both are ousted, it could lead to a new election for the party's top leaders. Millette and Brown were elected at the party convention in April when Ron Paul supporters and other non-establishment party members, many recently affiliated as Republicans, showed up in large numbers. Millette was allied with Joe Miller, the Tea Party backed U.S. Senate candidate who beat Lisa Murkowski in the 2010 primary but lost to Murkowski in her historic write-in victory in the general election.

While the particulars of the various conflicts are unique to each state, the effects of the intraparty clashes will likely ripple across national GOP politics in the upcoming election cycles. Among other things, they’ll affect candidate recruitment efforts up and down the ballot, state party fundraising and organizing, and they’ll also play a role in determining the caliber of the GOP Senate field in 2014.

Then there’s the run-up to 2016, where the election of Ron Paul supporters to leadership posts in key early states like Iowa and Nevada figures to have an impact on Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s prospects.