The Myth of Uniqueness Debunked

The world is a big place. But then again, not so much.

I was pleasantly reminded of this today when Matthew Newman, a reader and follower on Twitter,  tipped me to an error in a story I wrote earlier this week—an error that I and other reporters have repeated over the years. (A tip of the hat and a thank you to Newman.)

For years, it's been reported (by me and others) that the county Republican Central Committee chairman is unique in all the country because it's a position that is elected in the primary election by voters and not after the election by committee members.

I'd looked off and on over the years for another example. The nation's a big place. There's a lot of counties. I didn't find anything in my cyber-travels that led me to believe what I was told was wrong.

But Newman shrank the country for me a bit when he re-tweeted a story of mine earlier this week and someone in Texas read it.

Apparently in Texas, not only are many of the heads of GOP central committees elected in a similar way, but so are many Democratic party heads. Here's the proof.

So Baltimore County's Republican central committee leader isn't unique in the country—just in Maryland.

But not for long.

With the forced resignation of Tony Campbell, the current chairman, members within the committee say they will likely ask legislators to change the law and let committee members choose their leader.

And Baltimore County will be like everyone else.

Except Texas, that is.