LD 27 NEWS
LD 27 NEWS
MARCH 2007
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
It’s March and we are quickly heading into another Tucson summer. I hope we can get a few weeks of spring before turning up the air conditioners and swamp coolers.
As the weather heats up, so does the political climate. We have city elections this year and Mayor Walkup is running for reelection. Lori Oien, is running to take the Ward 2 seat from the Democrats. Lori is expected to drop by at our meeting on March 17th to give us a quick update on her campaign and ask for contributions in order to qualify for matching funds (so be sure to bring along your checkbook).
The 2008 campaign is also heating up. Although LD-27 is predominantly in Congressional District 7, part of it is in Congressional District 8, which will undoubtedly be a hot race with national interest. Several names have been bandied about as potential opponents to Gabby Giffords, but no one has declared yet. A lot of people have indicated that they think Senate President Tim Bee would be an excellent candidate to run for CD-8, but Senator Bee has indicated he has a full plate right now up in Phoenix. Since he is our featured speaker on the 17th of this month, you will definitely want to hear him.
I’m also happy to say that it appears that our own Gene Chewning will be seeking office. Although he didn’t win last time, he got good coverage from the media and he did give Republicans someone to vote for. In an era where bitter partisan bickering is the norm, Gene was recognized by the local media as a candidate who could debate the issues, without being nasty.
And, of course, there is the presidential election coming up. It is my intention to have a representative of every GOP presidential candidate come and speak to one of our meetings. Mike Hellon of the McCain campaign has agreed to speak to us in April and I will make arrangements to have representatives from the Giuliani and Romney campaigns as soon as I can get in contact with them.
Although talking about candidates is fun, we have a more serious job, which is delivering Republican votes for them. And, that is a challenge in a district where we are outnumbered by Democrats two-to-one. That means we have to work smarter and more aggressively than the competition.
In looking at the results of the 2006 elections, I discovered a few good things. First, Republican candidates generally out preformed their Democratic opponents in LD-27. While the Democrats outnumbered us two to one, their candidates didn’t get those margins in the election. And, much of that is due to your efforts.
What I did discover in looking over the results was that three factors were critical to getting a good Republican result, despite registration numbers. First - having active PCs in the precinct. Second - lifestyles that tend to be more Republican in outlook – generally more suburban and rural. Third - having campaign events in the precinct.
So, our plan to get more Republican votes in LD-27 will focus on these three factors. First, we need more Precinct Committeemen. Although our number of PCs has nearly doubled since November, we still need many more PCs because we only have a fraction of the number allotted to us.
This is one area where you can be of help. We all know other Republicans who live near us who enjoy the political process. So, ask them to become a PC. If they are hesitant, get them to come to one of our meetings. I’m sure that when they see us and get to know more about what we do, we can get them to sign up.
We are also focusing on penetrating the Hispanic neighborhoods more. Luis Gonzales Jr. has volunteered to help us get community leaders and business people to become precinct committeemen and bring the GOP story into precincts where we are not usually seen.
Of course, just having a name on our PC list isn’t enough. We need to make sure that they have the help to work their neighborhood. We will also be targeting high value precincts and helping those precinct committeemen in the months leading up to the elections.
The second key to victory is to focus on precincts where GOP leaning lifestyles are more likely to live. Fortunately, while heavy Democratic precincts are stagnant, more GOP leaning precincts in LD-27 are growing rapidly. Many of these are west of the Tucson Mountains, especially along Valencia Road. Duke Schechter is our voter registration guru and he will be coordinating with the state and county GOP party to get more Republican voters from those areas.
The final goal to maximize Republican votes here in LD-27 is to get out to neighborhood events. In the 2006 election, I learned that getting one of our candidates into the precinct at a neighborhood event would give us no less than an additional 5% of the vote compared to neighboring precincts.
This is another area where you can help. We need to know when there are neighborhood events where we can either set up a table or have candidates meet the voters.
Okay, I’ve talked about what you can do, but what can you expect of me as the district chair? First is availability. I’m self employed and work at home, so you can either call or email me and expect a quick answer. I’m new to being a District Chair, so I’m open to ideas. Second, I promise informative, concise district meetings. I will strive to have meetings with interesting speakers and will keep them from going too long.
I will also try to communicate to everyone through a newsletter every month. That way everyone, not just those who were at the last meeting, will know what is going on. In order to save money, we’ll send it out via email, but we will have hard copies at the meetings.
Finally, I will remember Ronald Reagan’s eleventh commandment about not speaking evil about another Republican. We have experienced some divisions in the Arizona Republican Party lately, but I don’t think they belong in our district. By becoming precinct committeemen for the Republican Party we have all made a commitment to the party and I respect that.
So enough babbling for this month. I hope to see you at 9:00 am (8:30 for those who like to get there early for breakfast) at the Golden Corral on March 17th for a rousing kickoff to St. Patrick’s Day. State Senator and President of the Arizona State Senate Tim Bee will be our featured speaker.
Sincerely,
Harold Hough
LD-27 Chair
578-1934
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 13, Pima County Republican Club, Sabbar Shrine Temple, 11:30 am, Ophelia Parker
March 17, District meeting, Golden Corral Restaurant at Midvale, 9:00 am, Guest Speaker Senator Tim Bee
March 17, Lincoln Day Dinner, Manning House, 6:30 pm
March 20, Pima County Republican Club, Sabbar Shrine Temple, 11:30 am, Lori Oien, Candidate for Ward 2
March 24, Santa Cruz Friends of the NRA, Desert Diamond Casino.
March 27, Pima County Republican Club, Sabbar Shrine Temple, 11:30 am, Randy Pullen, Arizona State Republican Party Chairman.
WHERE DID THE GOP ELEPHANT COME FROM?
Did you every wonder why the elephant became the symbol of the GOP? The Republican Elephant was born in the imagination of cartoonist Thomas Nast and first appeared in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874. The New York Herald raised the cry of "Caesarism" in connection with the possibility of a third term try for President Ulysses S. Grant. The issue was taken up by the Democratic politicians in 1874, halfway through Grant's second term and just before the midterm elections, and helped disaffect Republican voters.
Cartoonist Thomas Nast took up the issue in a cartoon for Harper's Weekly. He showed an ass (symbolizing the New York Herald) wearing a lion's skin (the scary prospect of Caesarism) frightening away the animals in the forest. The caption quoted a familiar fable: "An ass having put on a lion's skin roamed about in the forest and amused himself by frightening all the foolish animals he met within his wanderings." One of the animals in the cartoon was an elephant, representing the Republican vote - not the party, the Republican vote - which was being frightened away from its normal ties by the phony scare of Caesarism. Nast later used the elephant to editorialize an election where the GOP did badly and other cartoonists soon picked up the symbol. Eventually the elephant came to represent the Republican Party, while the donkey evolved from a representation of the New York Herald to the Democrat Party.
- From William Safire’s New Language of Politics, 1972
DON’T FORGET
Gene Chewning will be bringing the PC badges to the next meeting. Bring money if you ordered one.
We will have a 50 – 50 at the meetings so we can beef up our treasury.
We need volunteers to register voters at the SAHBA Home Show (April 13 – 15) and the Pima County Fair (April 19 – 29). We also have voter registration at most gun shows. Contact Duke Schechter at 917 881-8004.
The Pima County GOP is looking for auction items for the Lincoln Day Dinner. Call 321-1492 if you have anything.
Help the Pima GOP by becoming a Party Builder. The cost is $50 and you get several benefits, including special events.