Some Trumbull GOP members withdraw support for County Commissioner Niki Frenchko
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Trumbull County Republican Party has since rescinded the actions taken against Frenchko, who is now fulfilling her previous position of Auxiliary Chair once again.
Trumbull County Commissioner Niki Frenchko no longer has the backing of some members in the leadership of her party, after an October incident at the county's Republican Party headquarters.
A letter dated October 25th was sent to party members on behalf of the board to explain what led up to Frenchko's ban.
It began as an event for prospective 2024 candidates to get a head start on petition signatures for an upcoming filing date. The letter to members states, 'some of you may have heard that this event took a turn for the worst when Commissioner Niki Frenchko showed up at 1:15 p.m., two hours after the event began.'
'While other candidates sat and greeted people, Niki ran through the headquarters interrupting everyone and shoving her petitions in their faces. It was extremely unprofessional,' the letter continued.
The letter also claimed that Frenchko was taking pictures and recording, despite a party official telling her this was not permitted. After some escalation, she was eventually asked to leave by Howland Police.
The letter continues:
Ms. Frenchko has been told on numerous occasions that what transpires in our headquarters, meetings, etc. is party business and is not to be recorded or shared with the public. This is done to protect our plans and information, but mostly to protect our candidates. She has come to officers' meetings and insisted she has the right to record our meetings and discussions. This has been a point of contention with her since our first meeting with her. She has always refused to comply...
...The members and officers of this party have gone out of their way to accommodate her on many occasions. Our good will has been met with insulting emails, demands, name calling, and nasty text messages and phone calls.
The officers held a special meeting last night and discussed how we want to proceed from this point. It is clear that no amount of effort to curtail her actions will be met with any success and no amount of good will will be appreciated.
Accompanying the letter was a resolution to formally censure Frenchko "as a member of the Republican Party, and to withdraw any and all support for her as a candidate for political office."
21 News reached out to Niki Frenchko for a statement, but has not received one as of this writing.