March 2021 - convention recap

A big thanks to everyone who was able to participate, either in person or on line, in the 2021 Chatham Republican Party convention last Saturday. We had a really good meeting with great speakers and it was a chance to renew friendships.

Officers and Executive Committee

Every two years we elect County officers of the Party and the County GOP executive committee. For 2021-2022 the officers are:
Chair: Terry Schmidt
1st Vice Chair: Rick Brownfield
2nd Vice Chair: Bill Crawford
Secretary: Terri Tyson
Treasurer: Gayle Daniel
In addition, the Convention approved modifications to the leadership structure in Chatham County that defines a quorum, adds job descriptions to certain executive committee positions, and give executive committee voting privileges to all Precinct chairs and some other Republican leaders.

Platform and speakers

This year the Convention approved an update to the Chatham County Republican Party Platform. That document is attached. Please read through it (it's short) and use it to talk with your friends and neighbors about conservative principles. We also heard great presentations about the voting process, and information from the Faith and Freedom Coalition and the Capital Research Center.

2022 Elections

The 2022 General Election, while not a Presidential year, will be another big event for our nation's future. These are the races up for grabs:

US Senate - Richard Burr (R) who is not seeking re-election

US House District 4 - David Price (D)

US House District 13 - Ted Budd (R)

NC Senate 23 - Valerie Foushee (D)

NC House 54 - Robert Reives II (D)

NC Supreme Court - Judson (D) seat

NC Supreme Court - Ervin (D) seat

Chatham County Commissioner District 3 - Diana Hales (D)

Chatham County Commissioner District 4 -Jim Crawford (D)

Chatham County Commissioner District 5 - Franklin Gomez Florez (D?)

Sheriff - Mike Roberson (D)

Board of Education 3 - Del Turner (D)

Board of Education 4 - Jane Allen Wilson (D)

Board of Education 5 - Gary Leonard (D)

Soil and Water - John Glosson (U)

Soil and Water - Richard Hayes (D)

In 2022 the democrats have a lot of seats to defend, so Republicans should pick up some gains. We can keep the Senate seat, increase numbers in the House of Representatives, retake a supermajority in the NC legislature, flip the NC Supreme Court to conservative, change the Chatham Board of Commissioners to Republican, and force the Board of Education to conservative positions.

Election Timeline

In a normal year, candidates would file their candidacy in December 2021 for the Primary election in 2022. The US Census Bureau is required to make the 2020 Census data available by December 31, 2020. They might get it out by September 30, 2021 - nine months late. Each 10-year census triggers redistricting. So what if the census is nine months late? Redistricting will start nine months late. After the inevitable lawsuits, who knows when the districts will be finalized. That will impact the US House seats, and maybe others. The next election cycle will be interesting, at the least.

In closing, thanks to everyone for supporting constitutional and conservative causes along with honesty and decency. The future of our county, state, and nation depend on our being brave and standing up for the core beliefs that formed our Nation.

Finally, a historical quote (very applicable to the times we are living in)

Everybody is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say
what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.
― Winston Churchill

Thanks for reading.