James J. Lyons Jr.

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Jim Lyons
Jim Lyons speech.jpg
Chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party
Assumed office
January 17, 2019
Preceded byKirsten Hughes
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 18th Essex district
In office
January 2011 – January 2, 2019
Preceded byBarbara L'Italien
Succeeded byTram Nguyen
Personal details
BornArlington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationBrandeis University (BA)

James J. "Jim" Lyons Jr. is an American politician who is the chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party and represented the 18th Essex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for four terms.[1] He was a member of the Judiciary Joint Committee and the Public Health Joint Committee.

Political career[]

State representative[]

On November 2, 2010, Lyons upset incumbent representative Barbara L'Italien. He was sworn in on January 5, 2011.[2] Lyons's legislative priorities often focused on anti-abortion issues, fighting the Opioid epidemic, and advocating for local aid. He derailed a bill that would have added a gender-neutral option to Massachusetts driver's licenses, forced the state to reveal that it gave out $1.8 billion in public assistance to undocumented immigrants, and led an unsuccessful effort in the state legislature to remove Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley from the bench.[3][4][5][6] He served as Ted Cruz's Massachusetts campaign Chairman during the 2016 Republican presidential primary.[7] Lyons was upset in the 2018 election by Democrat Tram Nguyen.

State party chairman[]

On January 17, 2019 Lyons was elected chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, defeating incumbent party treasurer Brent Andersen by a vote of 47 to 30. A conservative, Lyons did not have the support of the moderate state party establishment led by Governor Charlie Baker. Lyons also did not have the support of Donald Trump's Massachusetts campaign chairman, Vincent DeVito, who had endorsed Andersen in a public letter sent to supporters of Trump on May 31, 2016.[3][8] On January 3, 2021 Lyons was reelected by a narrower margin of 39 to 36.[9] As chairman, Lyons has aligned with the conservative and pro-Trump wings of the state party.[10] Also as chairman, Lyons has embraced Trump's false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election and has empowered the party's hardline conservatives.[11]

Several controversies have dogged the Massachusetts Republican Party since the reelection of Lyons. In April, the state's top campaign finance regulator declared that various money transfers by the Massachusetts Republican Party were worthy of criminal prosecution and referred the case to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.[12] Later that month, over two dozen Asian American Republicans in Boston alleged Lyons was discriminating against minority voters in an election of two candidates to the Republican State Committee.[13][14] In May, Lyons, who opposes abortion, invited Georgia gubernatorial candidate Vernon Jones to a fundraiser in support of the Massachusetts Republican Party despite the fact that Jones opposed Georgia's anti-abortion "heartbeat bill" as a legislator.[15][16]

In June 2021, Lyons ignited a media firestorm when he defended anti-gay remarks made by a member of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee, who said she was "sickened" to learn that a gay Republican congressional candidate had adopted children with his husband. [17] The ensuing fallout led seven former chairs of the MassGOP and all but one of Massachusetts's elected Republican legislators to call for Lyons's resignation as chairman.[18][19] In response, Lyons criticized the elected Republicans as a "woke mob" with a "cancel culture mentality."[20] As the controversy continued to embroil Lyons, national Republicans distanced themselves from the MassGOP, with Congressman Dan Crenshaw and Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis canceling several previously planned fundraisers for the state party.[21][22] By September, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer had backed out of a heavily promoted party fundraiser "due to a conflict" with no new date having been announced.[23]

Following Boston's preliminary municipal elections in September 2021, it was discovered the Lyons and the state GOP had spent thousands of dollars promoting a city council candidate who made racist comments about Boston mayoral frontrunner Michelle Wu. “ARE WE ABOUT TO ELECT A CHINESE CITIZEN TO CONTROL THE CITY OF BOSTON?” Palmer said in an Aug. 29 message that he posted to Twitter. It was accompanied by a photograph of mayoral contender Michelle Wu, who was born in Chicago and is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. Palmer paired her photo with one of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In a July 10 post, Palmer wrote, “Earlier in the race I felt that the GOP were not interested in supporting me. That has all changed. Jim Lyons, the Mass. GOP chairman, is giving me massive support.”[24][25][26]

It was reported that a Republican committeewoman informed Lyons of Palmer's anti-Asian social media posts back in August 2021 but that he rebuffed her proposition to withdraw his endorsement of Palmer.[27] On October 2021, Governor Charlie Baker called for Lyons to resign due to the incident and other controversies.[28] Lyons responded that he wouldn't resign and accused Baker of "abandoning the principles of the Republican Party". Soon after, the state party sent fundraising messages to supporters mocking Baker and linking to Trump's endorsement of gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl.[29]

References[]

  1. ^ "Representative James J. Lyons, Jr". malegislature.gov.
  2. ^ Laidler, John (2010-11-07). "New 18th rep vows to cut budget, taxes". Boston.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  3. ^ a b Cotter, Sean Philip (January 17, 2019). "Conservative ex-state Rep. Jim Lyons wins Mass GOP chair". Boston Herald.
  4. ^ "Lyons, other pols push for judge's removal". www.lowellsun.com. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  5. ^ Reporter, Christian M. Wade Statehouse. "Lawmakers renew effort to impeach judge". Salem News. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  6. ^ "Bill to oust Salem judge over immigrant drug dealer's sentencing dies in House". Boston Herald. 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  7. ^ "State Rep. Jim Lyons Named Chairman of Ted Cruz' Presidential Campaign In Massachusetts and disliked Trump | Your Tewksbury Today". www.yourtewksburytoday.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  8. ^ Dwinell, Joe (January 17, 2019). "Jim Lyons wins upset victory as MassGOP chairman". Boston Herald. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "Lyons reelected as state GOP leader - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  10. ^ Kashinsky, Lisa (June 8, 2021). "Charlie Baker is one of the nation's most popular governors. That isn't enough for the GOP". Politico. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  11. ^ Platoff, Emma (30 May 2021). "As the Massachusetts GOP battles for relevance, its leader doubles down". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  12. ^ "State officials refer senator, MassGOP chief to prosecutors for potential campaign finance violations - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  13. ^ "Asian American Republicans accuse state GOP of pursuing discriminatory scheme to disenfranchise them in party elections - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  14. ^ "Asian Republicans Charge Massachusetts GOP With Discrimination". News. April 22, 2021.
  15. ^ Kashinsky, Lisa. "PIZZA, ALPACAS and CRYPTOCURRENCY — BELEAGUERED DCF steps up child visits — MASSGOP has GEORGIA on its mind". POLITICO.
  16. ^ "Vernon Jones' Voting Records on Issue: Abortion". Vote Smart.
  17. ^ "Mass. GOP chairman refuses to condemn official who made anti-gay remarks, says party must resist 'cancel culture' - the Boston Globe".
  18. ^ "Massachusetts House Republicans call for resignation of State Committee Chairman Jim Lyons". 7 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Seven former MassGOP leaders call for resignation of Jim Lyons".
  20. ^ "Charlie Baker, prominent MassGOP members call on Jim Lyons resign as chairman hits back at 'woke mob' lawmakers". 11 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Texas Republican congressman cancels event with MassGOP over internal drama - the Boston Globe".
  22. ^ "Amid internal battle in Massachusetts GOP, another national Republican figure will skip fund-raising event - the Boston Globe".
  23. ^ "Will Liz Warren give the presidency another go? 'Joe Biden is running'".
  24. ^ "In Boston at-large council race, state GOP backed boxer who pushed anti-Asian posts | Dorchester Reporter".
  25. ^ "Boston police union: Group was unaware of candidate's anti-Asian posts".
  26. ^ "Election roundup: State GOP, police union helped fund racist loser in at-large race".
  27. ^ Gavin, Christopher (14 October 2021). "MassGOP chair knew of candidate's anti-Asian remarks, committee member says". Boston.com. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  28. ^ Gavin, Christopher (15 October 2021). "Gov. Charlie Baker says MassGOP chair Jim Lyons should resign". Boston.com. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  29. ^ "Gov. Baker at odds with Mass. GOP chair Jim Lyons". WCVB. 2021-10-16. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
Massachusetts House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 18th Essex district
2011–2019 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party
2019–present 		Incumbent


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