CROWN POINT | The state Republican Party will not intercede in the feud between local Republican leaders.

Kevin Ober, executive director of the Indiana Republican Party, said the state party hopes Crown Point Mayor Dan Klein, GOP city chairman John Moos and Lake County Republican Chairman John Curley will work through their differences locally.

Klein asked the state party to remove Moos and Curley earlier this week after Democrat David Uran won the mayoral office. Twenty-five-year incumbent Republican City Councilman Paul Bremer also appears to have lost his District 1 seat to Democrat Bill Feder by four votes.

Klein criticized Moos and Curley for ineffective leadership that led to the loss of those key elected offices. Curley also lost Highland, Hobart and Cedar Lake to the Democrats, Klein said.

He said a change is needed to heal the party rift and move forward.

Both Moos and Curley denied Klein's accusations and refused to resign.

"We exhausted all of our resources (to get local Republicans elected)," Moos said. "We had an enormous amount of help from the county chairman and Lake County central committee, more than it's been in the past."

Ober said the state party does not intend to get involved in the local dispute.

"We really look at the situation as a local one," he said Friday. "They need to sit down, have a good family discussion and work through any differences they might have."