Huber said he has served on the Republican Committee of Lancaster County since the mid-1970s.
"This is a slap in the face," he said. "Well, if they're going to accuse me of openly and actively supporting another candidate, maybe I'll just have to show them what openly and actively supporting another candidate is."
Besides Huber, several other GOP committee members signed Clymer's petition and were given a choice by party leaders to either resign their seats or face a hearing by the advisory committee. Only Huber opted for the hearing.
Local party rules allow a vacated member of the committee to run again for their seat in the spring primary. Conceivably, Huber and the other ousted members could even be reappointed to their seats by chairman Dave Dumeyer.
"There is a process for appointment, but it would be difficult for me to reappoint them to their seats in light of everything that has happened," Dumeyer said. "That's not to say they can't run again in the spring. We can only apply the rules to the term that a member is in."
At least two other members have said they will seek their seats again next year. Huber said he is undecided about whether he'll run for his seat again.
"It's something I'll have to consider," he said. "I'm extremely disappointed."
Huber maintains that he did not violate Article 8, Section 2, of the bylaws, which states, "The office of any member of the county committee, officer thereof, any member of the advisory committee and any member of the citizens council shall automatically be vacated for open and active support in a general election of candidates other than Republicans, after verification of the facts in a hearing held by the advisory committee for that purpose."
Huber said signing a petition to help get Clymer on the ballot cannot be construed as open and active support of candidate outside the Republican party.
"He was not a candidate until his petition was filed with the elections office," Huber said. "I signed his petition before he was a candidate."
Plus, Huber said, his was not the deciding signature on Clymer's petition. Clymer needed 980 signatures. He turned in 1,771.
Huber said GOP committee members shouldn't have to give up their rights as citizens to serve on the committee.
"To me, "open and active support' is passing out literature or working the polls for a candidate," he said. "Not what I did."
Dumeyer and 44 advisory committee members see it differently, however.
"I think this is a verification by the committee of the facts," Dumeyer said. "Their assessment was that this was open and active support. I don't think it was a slap in the face. To some extent, I think the committee agreed that what he did was not up to the standards of what a Republican committeeman is supposed to do."
Penn Manor committeewoman Nora Ockey consoled Huber after the vote was taken, but didn't apologize for her vote.
"We appreciate your years of service, but this was nothing personal, Jim," Ockey said. "At least you can say it was a Democratic vote. Majority rules."