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Become a Republican Party Official
In order to have an impact on Republican Party policy, you must find a way to become a delegate, or to help select delegates, to your state's conventions. Some of these people will also become delegates to the National Republican Convention where they will vote for the Party's presidential nominee.
To become part of this process, you must become a Party official. This process is different for each state, and you will have to educate yourself on how it's done. If yours is a caucus state, it may involve simply showing up on caucus day to vote for your preferred candidate. Many states, like California, have a well-defined Party structure with a chain of command that extends from the state Party down to legislative (assembly) districts.
In California there are 80 members of the State Assembly. Each Assembly District has a Central Committee consisting of 7 elected members. The next step up the chain of command is the County Central Committee, and so forth. Elections are held every two years for Assembly District Central Committee members.
Very often, there are 7 or fewer candidates for the 7 positions. When this occurs, the declared (and qualified) candidates are automatically elected and their names never appear on the ballot. To qualify, a candidate needs to file papers at little or no cost and include an official form with signatures of 25 registered Republicans in the Assembly District. The signatures can be obtained by visiting a friendly Republican Club, Federated Republican Women Club, etc.
IMPORTANT: If there is an unfilled Central Committee position, you can be appointed by the elected members to fill the position. Meet with them and make the case for why they should appoint you!
If there are more than 7 candidates, you can campaign by visiting all of the local Republican activist groups and by advertising on Slate Mailers. Slate Mailers are an inexpensive way to get your name before voters. With very few exceptions, the advertising sent out by Slate Mail groups has nothing to do with ideology - all you have to do is pay to be included. But, be advised that you may be on the same ballot with candidates whose views are quite different from yours.
A terrific way to publicize your candidacy is to induce a candidate for a higher office such as the state legislature to include your name in his or her campaign literature. Being a hard worker in the candidate’s campaign may help you earn such a favor.
The responsibilities of a Central Committee in California are fourfold.
- Get Out the Vote - coordinate efforts of Republican Clubs getting Republican voters to the polls on Election Day
- Voter registration - coordinating efforts of Republican Clubs, a specialty of Federated Republican Women
- Finding and assisting candidates for local offices
- Raising money to help candidates
In California, the Assembly District Central Committee oversees the operation of Republican Clubs within the Assembly District. It also recommends chartering new Clubs to the County Central Committee. It is from these Clubs that the Assembly District Central Committee finds the “feet on the street,” “down in the trenches” Republican Party workers. By contrast, the Democrat Party relies heavily upon paid trade-union people to do much of their campaign work.
As with Republican Clubs, the Republican Party usually does not want Central Committees to debate issues or adopt policy positions. That is reserved to candidates and Party officials further up the chain of command. The Party will also require you to support all of its candidates.
And, as with a Republican Club, these restrictions needn’t stand in your way of fighting Republican liberals and building up conservative Republicans. The Party can’t prevent your Central Committee from being polite but standoffish to liberal Republicans and extremely receptive to conservative Republicans. In time, word will spread that liberals aren’t welcome while conservatives are. And you won’t be in violation of your responsibilities as a Republican Party official as long as you don’t deny liberals access, however limited, to your services. After all, it’s up to your members to decide which candidates they will actively support and the most the Republican Party can demand is that you not trash liberal Republicans in public.
You must always be on guard against liberal influence from within your Central Committee that will parrot the worn out line about how conservatives can’t win in your area. Remember that people are always looking for leaders, and you can get your way by providing positive and honest leadership. A Central Committee, like a Republican Club, is a volunteer organization, and is thus easy to control. Control ultimately rests with the hardest workers and the most dominant personalities. Be sure to learn enough about “Robert’s Rules of Order” for conducting meetings to prevent liberals from diluting your purpose. If they have a majority, your Assembly Committee’s mission to rebuild the Republican Party is stalled and you must work to help elect a conservative majority to make progress.
Finally, you can dramatically improve Republican turnout in your community by encouraging the Republican Clubs in your jurisdiction to open as many official Republican Headquarters as possible. In good times, the Republican Party will sometimes provide funds to pay some of their bills. Through Central Committee fundraising efforts, you may be able to help as well. While permanent Republican Headquarters are the best of all options, remind your Republican Clubs that operating a Republican Headquarters for a few months leading up an election is still very effective.
Stress to the Republican Clubs that the most important function of a Republican Headquarters is it’s Get-Out-the-Vote activities. The Headquarters is the local “war room” for the Republican Party. Approximately 80% of the effort should be focused on the Get-Out-the-Vote effort. The other 20% is to pass out yard signs, candidate literature, bumper stickers, etc. Statistical studies show that communities with an aggressive Republican Headquarters show a substantial (20% or more) increase in Republican voter turnout.
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