repyaLt. Col. Joe Repya is leaving the Minnesota GOP — and he’s exiting with rhetorical guns blazing. The 30-year U.S. Army veteran — who fought in Vietnam and both Iraq wars — delivers a withering op-ed piece in today’s Pioneer Press:

After years of ineffective party leadership resulting in a record number of defeats, lack of transparency in party dealings, alleged financial impropriety by former party employees, and numerous Federal Election Commission problems, can you really blame the electorate for abandoning the Minnesota GOP?

On June 13, the party continued its death spiral by electing the same failed leadership that has lost the last two elections. The “old guard” network of the GOP State Central Delegates continued to imitate lemmings gleefully following each other over the cliff to the political abyss below.

Possibly the last chance to reform and re-energize the Minnesota GOP before the 2010 governor’s race has been lost. For me, it was the last straw. I refuse to enable poor performance any longer.

Repya ran for Minnesota GOP party chair in 2007, but lost out to Ron Carey. Earlier this month Tony Sutton was elected as Carey’s successor.