Party Chairman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Ross Perot's allies moved yesterday to reclaim control of the Reform Party in a rowdy and hostile showdown that at one point required police intervention. Before the day's end, the party's national committee had removed Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's hand-picked party chairman and was on the verge of rejecting Ventura's efforts to hold the party's summer convention in St. Paul, Minn. Ventura, the party's highest-ranking elected official, anticipated yesterday's votes and quit the party Friday, declaring it to be a "dysfunctional family."

DEARBORN, Mich. -- As the Reform Party seeks to revive its waning influence in presidential politics, members voted yesterday to ditch its old leadership and embrace a candidate endorsed by former wrestler turned populist sensation Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.Delegates at the third annual Reform Party convention elected former financier Jack Gargan as party chairman. Gargan, who grew up on a chicken farm and talks about government reform with a country drawl, was seen by some as a repudiation of another twangy Reform Party personality, founder Ross Perot.

Former Howard County GOP Chairman Allan Kittleman, who learned politics at his father's side, announced yesterday the beginning of his own campaign for a seat on the County Council.Kittleman, 39, is the son of state Del. Robert H. Kittleman, the House minority leader and a revered figure in the local Republican Party. That may give the younger Kittleman an edge against party rival Gail Bates in September's primary election.But despite talk of a "Kittleman dynasty," many supporters said yesterday that Allan Kittleman has earned his own reputation as a hard-working party loyalist and is ready to take over the council seat being vacated by Charles C. Feaga.

WASHINGTON -- The Republican National Committee turned to one of its own yesterday, electing little-known Colorado conservative Jim Nicholson as the party's new national chairman.Nicholson, a 58-year-old land developer, succeeds Haley Barbour of Mississippi, who stepped down after four highly successful years in the job.The choice of Nicholson, a West Point graduate and decorated Vietnam veteran, means that both of the nation's major party chairmen will come from Colorado. Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado will formally take over as Democratic national chairman next week.

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's most prominent political opposition figure, Megawati Sukarnoputri, was ousted yesterday from her party's leadership by rival members, leaving her supporters uncertain over their next move.With the blessing of the Indonesian government, the rival members reinstated Megawati's predecessor as party chairman at a meeting in the city of Medan, setting the stage for a possible confrontation with her supporters, who continued to occupy the party headquarters in Jakarta.

At 83, George Aloysius Meyers of Govans remains a big man with a big, wry, ironic laugh that punctuates his memories like the exclamation point at the end of the Communist Manifesto."

WASHINGTON -- Bill Brock, a former Republican national chairman and onetime senator from Tennessee, is considering a campaign for governor of Maryland next year."

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Bill Clinton's choice of David Wilhelm, his savvy 36-year-old campaign manager, as chairman of the Democratic National Committee means the DNC will be the political command post in the new administration.It has not always been thus. For years, the job of party chairman for the party in control of the White House was regarded as almost a backwater. The rule of thumb was that the post was worth having only in the "out" party, when its occupant could speak for the party in the absence of a presidential voice.

WASHINGTON -- It is notable that when soon-to-depart Republican National Chairman Rich Bond released a statement in effect chastising Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice for labeling the United States "a Christian Nation," he got most of the Republicans seeking to succeed him as party chairman to sign on.The message behind the message was clear: the next leadership of the GOP was not going to pursue exclusionary policies, but instead would embrace the "big tent"...

WASHINGTON -- After every election, says David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, "the losing party always has an obituary written over it." While this year is no exception, there is a notable shortage of crepe-hanging among prominent Republicans as they assess Tuesday's results beyond President Bush's loss.Mr. Keene points to a party that basically held its own in the congressional elections and made gains in state legislatures as evidence that reports of the GOP's demise are greatly exaggerated.