Disgruntled Dissent After the 2022 Election
If you haven’t already, read the introduction to the series: Massachusetts Morass: A Cautionary Tale of the Gloucester Republican City Committee
Following the dismal performance
of Republicans in the 2022 State Election, the Massachusetts Republican Party scrambled to regroup and analyze what went wrong. Adding to the troubles was a public rift between factions of the MassGOP following the ousting of Jim Lyons as the state chairman. These issues kept the MassGOP distracted while rumblings of dissent were bubbling up in the Gloucester Republican City Committee, blinding the GOP to problems that could have been nipped in the bud using state-level support. But why the focus on Gloucester?
The Gloucester Republican City Committee (GRCC)
According to GRCC Chairwoman Ashley Sullivan,
“Gloucester is one of the larger/most active committees in the state!! We are the only city in this state committee district, and many committees across the state look to us as the standard and as an example regularly…Being one of the more conservative committees in the state, we have conservative SC members and tend to get behind every conservative cause that we possibly can.”
Early Rumblings
On Saturday, January 28, 2023, about thirty people attended a public forum at Beverly Farms Library, where former 2022 Republican candidate for governor Chris Doughty was the keynote speaker. Doughty, considered by many a more traditional moderate conservative along the lines of Charlie Baker and Mitt Romney, lost to Geoff Diehl in the primary. That outcome surprised many who thought Doughty would win the primary based on Diehl’s “limited appeal” (i.e., Trump-aligned support). The event was organized by Claire and Sam Cabot of Beverly, MA, and a person who plays a crucial role in the saga of the GRCC, Dr. Cynthia Bjorlie.
Earlier that month, Bjorlie had conversations, both on the phone and in person, with Republican State Committeewoman Amanda Orlando to express her dissatisfaction with the GRCC leadership and to offer ideas for solutions. According to an August 3, 2023 email in which she related the conversation to others, Ms. Orlando advised Bjorlie to
“improve the group by participating in it rather than trying to divide it by moving to remove our chairwoman.”
She went on to suggest to Bjorlie that she could
“work on finding someone who she felt would run it better, and then, if by the time Ashley’s term was over and she was still not content, that person could run against Ashley. That’s the way the system works. We re-organize every 4 years by holding elections for officers.”
That advice didn’t sit well with Bjorlie, who began contacting GRCC members behind the scenes to gather support for her ideas and recruit a replacement for Ms. Sullivan. Why work outside regular GRCC meetings? Perhaps because Bjorlie didn’t get the approval from Ms. Orlando that she wanted—and needed—so she decided to build support for her agenda by other means. Before continuing, a question must be answered: Who is Dr. Cynthia Bjorlie?
Who is Dr. Cynthia Bjorlie?
Dr. Cynthia Bjorlie is a resident of Gloucester, MA, a certified physician in internal medicine and primary care, and the Program Director of Adult Foster Care of the North Shore.2 She is a member of The League of Women Voters of Cape Ann, a group whose national umbrella organization promotes left-wing policies.3,4
Now, Bjorlie is a candidate for the 2024 Republican State Committee.5
Before her ouster from the GRCC on July 26, 2023, Bjorlie had been a member for many years, although, according to GRCC leadership, she had been
“…completely unengaged in anything in support of Republicans since 2014—a period of 9 years.”6
Building the B Team
According to public case documents filed with the Essex County Superior Court (Orlando v Bjorlie et al.), the plan to remove Ashley Sullivan as Chair of the GRCC may have begun as far back as 2022.
Opposition to Quash, page 4 7
State Committeewoman Orlando had alerted GRCC Chair Ashley Sullivan to the rumblings of discontent before the February GRCC Monthly meeting. At that meeting, Chairwoman Sullivan got her first taste of the public drama about to be unleashed on the committee. One topic discussed was the infighting plaguing the MassGOP. Sullivan recommended that their group stay out of the state-level drama and focus on local issues and candidate promotion.
According to meeting notes, Bjorlie, who was present at the meeting, vocally disagreed with Sullivan and “caused a scene.” At some point, she spotted a committee contact list on a table and began taking photos of them until Rockport RTC Chairman Jonathan Ring took the list away from her. Bjorlie used this list to contact members, hoping to garner enough support to remove Sullivan as Chair.
According to Sullivan, at least three GRCC members claimed Bjorlie tried to recruit them into her splinter group and they refused. However, she successfully pulled in a core faction of GRCC members to assist in the plan to overtake the GRCC leadership. Who were these disgruntled members?
Robin Hubbard
Realtor and Financial Planner who ran unsuccessfully for Gloucester City councilor-at-large in 2021, has run for office several times as an independent candidate, member of GRCC, present at the January 28th Doughty event where she met Bjorlie
Nicole Coles
Former Senior Financial Accountant, candidate for 2024 Republican State Committee, member of GRCC in January 2023
Clayton Sova
Candidate for 2024 Republican State Committee (partnered with Nicole Coles), small business owner (Atlas Machine Tool), member of the GRCC in January 2023, husband of Irene Frontiero
Irene Frontiero
Executive Director of the Essex Housing Authority, member of the GRCC in January 2023, wife of Clayton Sova
Ralph “Bud” Hobbs Jr.
Business owner, not a member of the GRCC in January 2023
The above characters will play important roles, and supporting cast members will be introduced as the narrative unfolds. Stay tuned for the next installment of Massachusetts Morass.
By Citizens for Truth Contributor
To continue reading this series: Massachusetts Morass Part 2: Regrouping for Removal
[1] Orlando, A. (2023b, August 3). Response to your Email. cc: Doug Parsons, Ashley Sullivan, Linda
[2] https://adultfostercarens.com/who-we-are/#afc_team
[3] https://lwvcapeann.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/ballot-girls-2017-2.jpg
[4] https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/league-of-women-voters-education-fund-lwvef/
[5] Orlando, A. (2023, April 3). Calls this Weekend.
[6] https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122111938178103892&set=a.122100284864103892
[7] Orlando, Concetta vs. Bjorlie, Cynthia et al, Massachusetts Trial Court N1 (Essex Superior Court June 26, 2023). Retrieved December 22, 2023, from https://www.masscourts.org/eservices/. Opposition to Motion to Quash Subpoenas filed by Concetta Orlando (August 29, 2023)
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