Florida Young Republicans Leave National Federation as Organization Crumbles Under Rick ‘Dark Money’ Loughery’s Failed Leadership

The Florida statewide chapter of the Young Republicans (FFYR) have passed a resolution removing themselves from the Young Republican National Federation (YRNF) alleging dismal and corrupt national leadership under the regime of Chairman Rick Loughery.

The resolution, obtained by Big League Politics, accuses the YRNF of intervening during a conflict “between a club chairman and FFYR leadership” and refusing “to try to resolve the situation amicably between parties and operat[ing] in bad faith.”

The FFYR leaders accuse the YRNF leadership of forcing “FFYR leadership to attend a “mediation” between the parties” where their legal counsel was shut out from the meeting. The YRNF leadership attempted to force the FFYR into an agreement that they never signed with rules they could not reasonably abide by, in a Catch 22 set up by Loughery’s leadership to facilitate a coup within the organization.

“The Dispute Committee entered an order less than two weeks before the August quarterly deeming the FFYR Chairman’s actions in material breach of the “agreement” and not just vacating the FFYR chairman position, but all of the statewide officer positions,” the FFYR leaders wrote in the resolution, noting that “the Dispute Committee also ordered for FFYR to hold new elections sometime in the fall of 2022, leaving the FFYR unable to govern itself in the interim.”

The resolution was signed by FFYR Chairman Jerick Johnston, FFYR Vice Chairwoman Makenzi Conner, FFYR Secretary Armando Ibarra, FFYR National Committeewoman Kristina Houlihan, FFYR Executive Director Sunny Aggarwal, FFYR General Counsel John Scott, FFYR immediate past chairwoman Jessica Fernandez, FFYR past chairwoman Peret Pass, FFYR past chairman Matthew Oberly, FFYR Region 6 Chairman Christian Harvey, FFYR Region 9 Chairman Justin Homburg, FFYR Region 12 Chairman Tony Figueroa, Nassau County Young Republicans Chairman Jordan Stoner, Pinellas County Young Republicans Chairwoman Anne Ford, Southwest Florida Young Republicans Chairwoman Olivia Tenzel, and St. Johns County Young Republicans Chairman James Higbee.

“We as a Federation have turned the page and are moving forward together by focusing on electing Republicans in Florida,” Johnston said in a quote provided to Big League Politics on the situation.

The resolution shows a stunning loss of confidence and faith in the YRNF national leadership from every major leader in the nation’s most influential and important right-wing state. The shocking allegations are seemingly confirmed in an email from YRNF legal counsel about the situation.

YRNF counsel Ross Wolfe admitted in an email to the YRNF National Committee that “the YRNF stepped in to address the disputes among the Florida state officers and local county club leaders.” He admitted his organization’s role in coercing FFYR leaders to submit to humiliating and degrading measures under the guise of a mediation. Failing to bend the knee to these demands, Wolfe declared that “the Florida Federation of Young Republicans will undergo a reorganization overseen by the YRNF.”

YRNF southern region vice chair Thomas Turner referred to the FFYRs “illegal vote to secede from YRNF” in another email. “We are a party that believes in the rule of law, and we must stand by this value in our internal governance as well as in our electoral politics,” he said.

However, when bringing up violations of the “rule of law” within the Young Republicans, it is important to note that none are more guilty than Rick Loughery of this offense for his establishment of a dark money slush fund to cash out on the organization’s name and reputation.

Big League Politics has reported on Loughery’s illicit YRs Run front that he founded to skirt the YRNF bylaws for his own personal and professional gain:

Young Republicans National Federation (YRNF) chairman Rick Loughery founded a dark money 501c4 organization that is aggressively usurping the legitimate functions of the YRNF without approval from its membership.

Loughery with help from the YRNF general counsel, Ross Wolfe, founded YRs Run, a nonprofit organization based out of Pennsylvania, in order to exert authority over the Young Republicans without having to follow the YRNF’s bylaws or reporting requirements.

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