Schifanelli bows out of GOP chair race after filing documents missed deadline by an hour

Gordana Schifanelli, the Republican who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor this year, has been thwarted in her bid to become chair of the state party. The GOP’s current leader claimed her nominating paperwork arrived an hour late. Republican leaders from around the state will gather in early December to elect a new chair, three vice-chairs and a secretary. Schifanelli, a Queen Anne’s County lawyer who ran on a ticket headed by Del. Dan Cox (R-Frederick), planned to run for state chair on a slate dubbed the “Unity Team.” In a series of social media posts on Tuesday, she bluntly rejected outgoing Chair Dirk Haire’s claim that the slate filed its paperwork an hour late. She said the only requirement in the party’s bylaws is that nomination paperwork be filed within 30 days of the vote, a condition she insists was met.