Benton County GOP votes to pull endorsement for Richland City Council candidate

The Central Committee for the Benton County Republican Party held a meeting on Saturday, October 28th, where members voted to withdraw the group's endorsement of Lloyd Becker. The Richland resident is running for City Council Position 3, against incumbent Sandra Kent in the November 7th general election.

The reason behind the move was recently expressed concerns about comments Becker is accused of making on social media, his blog, and even at some Richland City Council meetings.

Becker has raised issues about female incumbents on the Richland City Council, and made comments on his blog about women and transgenders in the military, prompting some to label him as misogynistic.

The Benton County Republican Party chair, Bill Berkman, says the Committee took community concerns very seriously, and acted as swiftly as their state charter permitted.

"We're always open to new information and acting on that new information," Berkman said. He says once information began to surface about the social media comments, the committee started evaluating the comments and determining how to proceed.

Berkman said that the group learned some difficult lessons in the process of evaluating whether to rescind the endorsement.

"In terms of moving forward, I think it's very safe to say that some difficult lessons were learned," Berkman said.  "But at the end of the day, it isn't going to change whether we  or not we weigh into partisan or non-partisan politics. A lot of discussion has been made about improving the practices and how we ask the questions we ask and how the entire committee deliberates on the endorsement process."

Becker is running against incumbent Council member Sandra Kent.