NC Republicans plan 5 in-person meetings, parties over holidays despite health warnings

The N.C. Republican Party is holding two dinners and a lunch, its executive committee meeting and its central committee meeting in the coming weeks despite warnings from health officials that COVID-19 spread is on the rise.

GOP spokesman Tim Wigginton said that COVID-19 precautions will be encouraged at the events.

North Carolina broke its record Thursday for having the most single-day new cases of COVID-19 reported, at 5,637. There are 2,101 people hospitalized and more than 5,410 deaths.

A rise in COVID-19 spread before the Thanksgiving holiday led Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to walk back lifted restrictions.

Cooper’s November executive orders reduced the number of people who could gather together indoors to 10 and mandated that every person, with limited exclusions, wear a mask when they are near anyone outside their household. The limit for outdoor gatherings is 50 people.

Meetings and parties

The Republican Party is holding five events between Saturday and Dec. 18: four in Surry County and one in Moore County.

Two locations will host the events: Coley Hall in Elkin, and Filly and Colts at the Little River Golf and Resort in Carthage.

The two meetings, the lunch and a Republican Victory Dinner are planned for Saturday in Elkin and hosted by GOP Chair Michael Whatley.

The other event will be held on Dec. 18 in Carthage. It will be N.C. Federation of Young Republicans’ first annual Christmas Awards Dinner hosted by U.S. Rep.-elect Madison Cawthorne and Whatley.

Whatley, who has been tweeting from Washington, D.C., this week, did not answer a call from The News & Observer on his cellphone and does not have voicemail set up.

In holding some past political events, Republicans have pointed to an exemption in state orders for activities protected by the First Amendment.

It’s unclear how many people will attend the gatherings. Wigginton said Wednesday he would not immediately provide the N&O with the numbers or guest lists. On Thursday, he said he was still waiting on the numbers.

He did add that the meetings have a virtual option for those concerned about gathering in person.

The executive committee and the Young Republicans group have hundreds of members and the central committee has around 30 members. The lunch is for county chairs.

Wigginton said because these venues are considered restaurants they are only subject to rules limiting capacity to 50%.

Employees at Filly and Colt did not respond to a voicemail from the N&O seeking comment on how many people their facility holds under the executive order.

A woman who answered the phone at Coley Hall said the venue normally holds around 550 guests but under Cooper’s order it’s holding around 150-175 people. The venue’s website lists how its staff is responding to the pandemic.

The venue also requires that the host provide a list of everyone in attendance in case someone is later to be found COVID-positive.

DHHS response

NC Department of Health and Human Services officials said the venues fall under a different set of guidelines than restaurants.

“Any meeting or function that takes place at a restaurant is covered by the capacity and other restrictions for Meeting Spaces and Entertainment Facilities,” Kelly Haight wrote in an email to the N&O.

Haight said that the restaurant and event settings need to follow the NCDHHS Interim Guidance for Meeting Rooms and Event Spaces, which limits the crowd size to 100 or 30% fire capacity, whichever is less.

“Maintaining social distance, washing hands often and wearing face coverings are the best tools we have to slow the spread (the 3Ws), which is why North Carolina has a mask mandate that everyone, including those at rallies, should follow,” Haight said.

Community spread

Coley Hall is in Surry County. Health officials have labeled Surry County as being in the red category designating areas with critical community spread.

Filly and Colt is in Moore County, which officials labeled orange, for having substantial community spread.

Wigginton said the venues were chosen based on where members would want to travel and which could accommodate the party’s needs.

Wigginton said he’s “not particularly concerned” about community spread during these events.

“We’re following all the COVID safety guidelines,” Wigginton said. “You have the same COVID guidelines you follow at a restaurant that are going to be there.”

Wigginton said that that means members will wear masks, use hand sanitizer and stay 6 feet apart.

Past GOP events

The N.C. Republican Party has posted more than 15 pages of photographs of group functions since June on the party’s web page.

Many of the attendees appear maskless. They are handshaking, hugging and fist-bumping. In one a man has his head resting on a woman’s lap. In others they’re crowded together around tables.

When asked why Whatley is frequently seen attending GOP events without a mask and whether he plans to wear one at the December events, Wigginton said, “I will bully him into wearing a mask.”

Wigginton said there will be no hugs or handshakes during the event.

“They’re suppose to go to their tables and stay at their tables,” Wigginton said.

When asked about the photographs Wigginton responded: “We do our best. I yell at them. I tell them to do things but you know, everyone is an adult too. You do what you can but people are adults and they make their own decisions.”

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.

This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 6:00 AM.