Volume XX, Number 2 April, 2008

MONTGOMERY COUNTY REPUBLICAN

Published quarterly by the Montgomery County Republican Party ~ POB 45 ~ Conroe, TX 77305-0045

Headquarters: 310 Collins Street ~ Conroe, TX 77301 ~ 936-441-5621 ~ fax 936-539-5858

www.mcrp.org ~

COUNTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING SET FOR MAY 20th IN CONROE CITY HALL

The organizational meeting of the new Republican County Executive Committee (CEC) for 2008-2010 has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 20th at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be held on the sixth floor of the Conroe City Hall at 300 West Davis Street in Conroe. The elevators may be accessed from the West Phillips Street entrance. The Vacancy Committee will meet at 6:45 p.m. in the same location to consider filling Precinct Chair vacancies in Precincts #26, 32, 33 and 38. According to Party Bylaws, the CEC will ratify the leadership appointments of the County Chairman, elect a CEC Secretary and name three-fifths (60%) of the membership to each of the six Standing Committees (Vacancy, Rules, Candidates, Finance, Organization and Headquarters-Volunteers).
The County Chairman appoints the remaining two-fifths (40 %) of the membership to each Committee. The CEC will also hear a report from the Treasurer, the Vacancy Committee, Finance Committee and Organization Committee Chairmen and a Primary election report from the County Chairman.

The 2007 Sally B. Naugle Service Award for consistent volunteer Headquarters service and a Special Recognition Award for a new volunteer will be awarded along with the 2007 Volunteer of the Year Award.

The meeting is open to the public. Further information may be obtained by contacting Republican Headquarters at 936-441-5621, or www.mcrp.org.

PRIMARY ELECTIONS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED

TURNOUT RECORDS SET BY BOTH PARTIES

The 2008 Primary elections are now history. While both Democrat and Republican Party voters set new General Primary turnout records, Republicans led the way with 41,841 (57.36%) votes compared with 31,100 Democrats (42.64%). In General Primary early voting Republicans again topped the Democrat total with 17,183 (57.12%) to 12,901 (42.88%) votes. These turnout records were generated by the presidential primary contests, especially on the Democrat side. “Not since the presidential election year of 1988 has there been such interest among both parties’ Primary election voters”, Republican County Chairman Walter Wilkerson noted. “Republican turnout was also affected by eleven contested local Primary races on the ballot. I learned years ago that you build a local Party organization from the bottom up, not from the top down”. This statement was a reference to the complete lack of local contests on the Democrat Primary ballot.

Senator John McCain led the Republican presidential candidate field with 50.58% of the 41,272 votes cast. Former Governor Mike Huckabee trailed in second place with 38.76% followed by Ron Paul with 4.34%. U. S. Senator John Cornyn easily defeated his Primary opponent with 79.10% of the vote.

Voter turnout totals in the April 8th Runoff Primary were not at the same level as the General
Primary. Only 12,754 Republicans voted in spite of four local contested races on the ballot and only 641 Democrats voted with only one statewide race on the ballot.

The total cost of the elections was not available at the time of the printing of the Newsletter. The Final Cost Report was due to be filed with the Secretary of State on May 8th.

“I want to thank all the Election Judges and election workers for a job well done”, Wilkerson said.

STATE CONVENTION JUNE 12-14

Montgomery County Republicans will be represented by 136 Delegates and 136 Alternate Delegates at the State Convention in Houston’s George Brown Convention Center on June 12-14, 2008. There will be 58 Delegates and 58 alternate Delegates from Senatorial District #3 and 78 Delegates and 78 alternate Delegates from Senatorial District #4. A list of the Delegates and Alternate Delegates can be found on the Party web site at www.mcrp.org. The State Convention will select individual Republicans to fill the 130 Delegate and 130 Alternate positions who will attend the Republican National Convention in St. Paul Minnesota September 1-4, 2008.

The Temporary Platform and Rules Committees will meet in the George Brown Convention Center daily beginning Monday, June 9th and the Credentials and Organization Committees will meet in the Convention Center beginning Wednesday, June 11th. Information about the Convention schedule, housing, and parking is also included on the website.

COUNTY GOP GET-OUT-THE-VOTE PROGRAM

WILL PARTNER WITH STATEWIDE PLAN

Victory 2008 is a statewide Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) program dedicated to cultivating and training grassroots volunteers to ensure Republican Party success at the polls on November 4th. The statewide program is chaired by former Secretary of State Roger Williams. The program will utilize the latest technology to target Republican voters and get them out to vote. Montgomery County Republican Party will utilize its proven GOTV program, but will integrate it with the statewide program, according to County Chairman Walter Wilkerson. “We will concentrate on voter contact using a precinct by precinct telephone campaign and targeted precinct walks to turn out Republicans during the early voting period”.

Party Organization Committee Chairman Hartley Mackintosh will report to the CEC at its meeting on May 20th on the status of the GOTV plan. A budget request will be submitted to the Finance Committee for funds necessary to implement the GOTV program. Preliminary plans for early fall Party fundraiser to secure the funds needed are underway.

YOUNG REPUBLICAN CLUB ORGANIZED

The Young Republicans (YRs) are the oldest political youth organization in the U. S. Important to the growth of the Republican Party, they reach out to registered Republicans, 18 to 40 years of age, and provide them with better political knowledge and understanding of the issues of the day. The YRs have a solid record of producing future Republican Party leaders including Governors, Senators, Congressmen, nationally recognized campaign consultants and community leaders. At recent organizational meeting, Mario Rosales was elected President of the Montgomery group. Those interested in becoming involved with the County YR group should contact the Headquarters at 936-441-5621 or .