Dear FR Reader,
This weekend many FlashReport readers will be attending the California Republican Party Convention in Los Angeles. It is an important convention for a lot of reasons, the most significant of which is that it is a great opportunity for grassroots GOP leaders from around the state to come together in support of our great Republican ticket as we are less than a hundred days from the general election. I know that I have already put in a lot of hours on behalf of GOP candidates for statewide and local office this year, and will invest a lot more between now and election day!
Of course Republican Party conventions are also a key opportunity to take some time to discuss the future of our party, where we are going over the coming weeks, months and years. This convention will be the last time that CRP delegates will come together until the party’s organizational convention in February. Boy that seems like a long time from now — especially because we have so many important election contests to win this November!
At the February CRP Convention the party will be electing a whole slew of new officers, including a new Chairman, Vice Chairman and others. As many FR readers know, I am from Orange County which is in the State GOP’s Southern Region. I was very pleased to join with many others at both the 2003 and 2005 conventions in electing Keith Carlson as Vice Chairman, South. Keith did an outstanding job — so much so that last February he was unanimously elected by CRP delegates to become Treasurer of the party. I am so proud of Keith, who is a fine Republican activist with many great achievements ahead of him. Because if this, at the reorganizational convention this February, there will be no elected incumbent running for this important position.
After talking at length with Keith Carlson, and receiving his encouragement, I have decided to seek the office of Vice Chairman, South! The region includes FOUR counties — Orange, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial. This is a large and important area of our state. The job of a regional Vice-Chairman, in my opinion, is very straightforward, and two-fold: The first is to act as a liaison between the State Party and the county GOP organizations, doing everything possible to help those counties to implement their political plans (voter registration, get-out-the-vote activities, targeted legislative and local election opportunities, etc). So whether it is helping to raise money, bring speakers, or help to coordinate resources, that is the main focus of this position. The second is to play a fiduciary role as a member of the party’s Board of Directors. In this latter role, I will be able to draw upon my experience having served as Executive Director of the California Republican Party for the 2000 election cycle. (You can read my entire biography here.)
This weekend, I am going to take the opportunity to start to talk to fellow CRP members about what we need to be doing to elect our GOP ticket this November and also about my vision for the party looking out past this November. Because you are a loyal reader of this website, I wanted to make sure that you heard about my candidacy first, not ‘through the grapevine’ or from some other FR blogger, but from me!
So, here it goes — I am running for Vice Chairman, South of the California Republican Party. As I mentioned above, Keith Carlson has encouraged and endorsed my candidacy. I am also very pleased that both Orange County Chairman Scott Baugh and Riverside County Chairman Jeff Miller have also endorsed my candidacy as well! Last night I spoke with our CRP Vice Chairman Ron Nehring, who is Chairman of the San Diego Party. Ron and I are good friends and he said a lot of nice things to me. But he said that because he is running for Chairman himself, he will be neither endorsing or helping any candidates for this office.
Obviously it is my feeling that the basics of election operations are the central responsibility of this position. But as you know as an FR reader, I will also be bringing into the job my strong conservative principles that you have seen me espouse a lot in the six years that I have produced the FlashReport.
Without question most of the real campaigning for this position will have to wait until after the election, as we need to focus our efforts on electing Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator McClintock, and the entire GOP ticket!
I want to take this opportunity to ask for your endorsement! If you would be willing to endorse me, you need only click here. It would mean a lot to me, especially if you are a CRP Member from Orange, Riverside, San Diego or Imperial Counties! Please let me know if you are.
If you are from the Southern Region, you can also help me by contacting your fellow CRP members (especially those elected Congressmen and State Legislators) and ask them to support me. Please don’t take time away from your volunteerism for our candidates to do this, but as you are working hard for the ticket, and you come across folks, please put in a good word!
Thank you for your consideration and feel free to drop me a note or give me a call (949-861-6369) if you want to chat about my candidacy or long-term vision for the State GOP.
Jon
P.S. There is nothing inexpensive about running for party office these days. Please consider making a small donation to help my efforts. You can do that here securely via credit card (or get the address to send a check).