Yesterday we featured an update on goings-on with the Young Republican Federation of California, penned by their new State Chairman Adam Abrahms.  For many people in the state, there is some confusion over the fact that there are actually two different statewide YR organizations recognized by the California Republican Party — the other one is the California Young Republicans.  I guess the easiest way to summarize the reason that there are two YR organizations would be this:  Back in the early 1990’s, a large activist surge brought a bunch of new people into the California Young Republicans, which at that point was the only statewide YR group.  The CYR leadership, afraid of "losing control" of the group as it grew in size, cheated to keep their Kern County based group in charge.  This cheating caused the vast majority of CYR’s members to leave the group, forming the YRFC, which for the last fifteen plus years has really been the dominant statewide YR group.

All of that said, I have been extremely impressed, lately, with a surge of activism within the original CYR group that has come under the Chairmanship of Jenniffer Rodriguez.  The group has started to see growth, and has started to grow back into a statewide group.  Enough so that I’ve heard that the same "rump group" of Kern County based folks are trying to cheat again to "purge" those they cannot control — even holding a faux CYR convention this last weekend in Sacramento.

Let me assure the statewide political community that while the YRFC continues on strong as it’s own organization, the CYR’s are surging under President Rodriguez.  This "refurbished and growing" CYR group will hold its official state convention this February.  Anyways, Chairman Rodriguez sent out an update on her organization’s activities, and I share it with you below…

As we gear up for the holidays and 2010, I wanted to take some time to update you on what the California Young Republicans (CYRs) were able to accomplish in 2009. We started off the year with an all day workshop in late January, where YRs from all across the state gathered to reflect on the 2008 elections and strategize for the year ahead. We set the goals of improving our communications effort by working on developing websites for each of our local clubs and expanding our organization by continuing to charter new clubs throughout the state. I am proud to say that we were able to surpass our goals by chartering six new clubs by the end of the year and introducing four new websites. The CYRs now have clubs in the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Monterey, Nevada, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Joaquin, Silicon Valley, and Tulare.
 
As a chartered organization of the Young Republican National Federation ("YRNF"), CYRs participated in the National Convention, sending thirty-seven delegates to Indianapolis to elect their new leadership. California won two national positions with Bryan Williams being elected to Western Regional Director and myself being elected to the Executive Board as Chairman of the State Chairman’s Association. Additionally, just last month at the Fall YRNF Board meeting, California was awarded with fourteen committee appointments. At our Fall CRP meeting in Indian Wells, YRNF National Chair, Audra Shay, met with YR leaders and addressed the CRP delegates at the general session. This marked the first time a sitting YRNF National Chair has ever attended a state convention in California and we thank her.
 
We ended our year, by sending YRs to campaign in New Jersey and Virginia during the last weeks of the gubernatorial races. While we were very successful in those states, it’s always important to "take care of home," and we did so by working hard for David Harmer in CD-10. YRs worked along with the CRs hosting three GOTV weekends and phone banking for David throughout his campaign. Although we were not victorious in winning that seat, we had YRs from all over the state, including a bus of YRs from our new southern California chapters, come to the Bay Area to knock on doors for Harmer and we saw a glimpse of what YRs can do when we are united.
 
It’s been a long year filled with many ups and downs for the Republican Party. Looking back on 2009, what I am most proud of are the Young Republicans in California who are committed to a cause of party unity and moving forward into 2010. Over the last year, we have seen our membership grow by over 1,000 members and for the first time in over five years, in February 2010, we will hold a CYR Annual Convention, with members from all across our state taking part in planning for the 2010 elections, electing our new leadership, and all of our YR chapters uniting to ensure victory for the GOP in 2010. Below is a Save-The -Date for the Annual Convention that will be held February 19th-21st, 2010, in Santa Clara county. We hope that you will mark this weekend on your calendar and join us in Santa Clara County, as we prepare for 2010 and the future of the Young Republicans in California.
 
Thank you for your leadership and I look forward to working with you.
 
Warm regards,
 
Jenniffer Rodriguez
Chairman, California Young Republicans
 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.