Henderson Republican chair charged with assault on female; Buncombe chair has same charge

The chair of Henderson County's Republican Party has been charged with assault on a female after a fellow GOP county officer said he grabbed her forcefully.

Brett Callaway , 63, the head of Western North Carolina's most prominent county GOP organization, was charged with the misdemeanor after summons issued on behalf of Kathy Maney, the Republican precinct chair for Hoopers Creek in northern Henderson County.

Maney, 68, in May 7 comments to the Citizen Times and a video she shared, said Callaway grabbed her hand as she was trying to film a conflict in what she described as a chaotic March 23 county party convention.

"Callaway...turned around and grabbed my hand forcefully with both of his hands, trying to take my phone away from me," she said.

The class A1 misdemeanor is the most serious of misdemeanors under state law and can carry a punishment of up to 150 days in jail. Callaway is set to appear May 8 in Henderson County District Court. He did not respond to a request for comment.

He is the second county GOP chair in Western North Carolina to face the charge.

Last year, Buncombe GOP Chair Doug Brown was charged with assault on a female after Republican Buncombe County School Board member Amy Churchill said Brown slammed a door on her and pushed her at the county's GOP headquarters. After multiple delays, Brown's case is in its earliest phases with him set to make an appearance July 8 in Buncombe County District Court.

It is not clear if Brown faced any internal sanctions by the party.

While Buncombe is a strongly Democratic county , Henderson is the Republican center for the west of the state and has produced the region's last two members of Congress.

Maney, whose video shows heated conflict at the party convention over what she said were new plan of organization rules, said she thought Callaway should step down "in order to save our Henderson GOP Republican party."

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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times .

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Henderson Republican chair charged with assault on female; Buncombe chair has same charge