Internal Feud Over Leadership of Reform Party Ends Up in Court

LYNCHBURG, Va. — The Reform Party’s internal feud over who is in charge of the organization--and the millions of taxpayer dollars it will receive for the presidential election--has landed where so many other dysfunctional family problems do: in court.

On one side as a hearing began Wednesday was Jack Gargan, who took the party chairmanship Jan. 1 and insists he is still legally in charge despite being voted out of office during a raucous meeting in Nashville last month. The event, he said, was held in violation of the party’s rules. Gargan is an ally of Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.

Opposite Gargan is Pat Choate, Ross Perot’s 1996 running mate and the man chosen in Nashville to replace Gargan.

Choate and others allied with Perot are planning the party’s convention in Long Beach in August and seeking a court order to bar Gargan and his supporters from acting as leaders and planning the convention in Ventura’s state.

Each faction also runs an “official” party Web site and claims ownership of $2.5 million in federal funding, most of which is held in the custody of the court. The party also will get $12.5 million in the fall for the general election.

The face-to-face meeting in Nashville turned into a brawl and local police threatened to shut it down, hurting the party’s credibility just as the election year was beginning.

The two sides adopted a more peaceful demeanor Wednesday in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon. Gargan and Choate even joked and laughed when they bumped into each other.