Philly GOP Chair DeFelice steps down
Joe DeFelice - from his Facebook page
Following months of speculation by party insiders, Philly Republican chair Joe DeFelice has officially stepped down, according to emails obtained by City&State PA.
“I am pursuing other opportunities that would preclude me from continuing in these elected roles,” DeFelice wrote in one. “I believe the future is bright for the Philadelphia Republican Party, so, rather than prolong my departure, my resignation will take effect at 11:59 p.m. today.”
An early backer of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, DeFelice became the subject of speculation for a position in the Trump administration. Despite limited housing policy knowledge, recent rumors indicate he may be in line for a position at the regional office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees affordable housing in much of the Mid-Atlantic region.
A lawyer by trade who started out as a Clerk of Elections in the 1990s, DeFelice won the chairmanship following a leadership battle. Vastly outnumbered by city Democrats, the party had devolved into squabbles between descendants of the Meehan family, which ruled the party during its early 20th-century heyday, and newer members that eyed internal reforms.
GOP state Rep. John Taylor was brought in as an interim chair to mediate the dispute, with DeFelice serving as executive director. When Taylor stepped down, DeFelice was unanimously elected to the chairmanship.
DeFelice led the party during a period of relative stability that saw the election of Martina White, the first city Republican to win a seat in the General Assembly in decades (in part due to infighting by Democrats). DeFelice often said he envisioned building a national brand of modern “urban conservatism,” but his early support for Trump put him on the White House’s radar.
Sources have said that the lawyer will leave the party much as he found it when he was first elevated to executive director – on the cusp of a fight over leadership. Current party VP Mike Cibik (who will fill in as acting chair during the interim); businessman Joe McColgan; and Michael Meehan, a descendant of the last Republican party boss, are all vying to succeed DeFelice.