ROCKINGHAM- The Richmond County Republican Party held their 2018 Convention on Saturday March 3 at the Richmond County Judicial Center.
The meeting was led by Richmond County Republican Party Chairman Jerry Austin, Jr. During his opening remarks, Austin noted a number of local positions that are running unopposed. Austin talked about the need for more people to get involved and run for office. He asked the party members present to encourage others to become engaged. “It’s hard to get people to run for office,” said Austin.
All three candidates for the 9th District Congressional race, Incumbent- Rep. Robert Pittenger, Mark Harris, and Clarence Goins were in attendance. Also present was Tom McInnis -Representative NC Senate District 25, Michelle Lexo, candidate for NC Senate District 25, and Ben Moss, who is running for re-election to the Richmond County Board of Commissioners.
The meeting kicked off with a passionate plea for engagement to young people from a young person himself. Bailey Tuttle, President of the Richmond Community College Republicans, spoke on the lack of involvement from young people today. He spoke of the importance of young people becoming engaged in things other than just social media. Tuttle noted, “The first thing many young people do in the morning is check Instagram, SnapChat and Facebook."
Tuttle went on to say, “According to studies, less than 5% of college students have a clear grasp on world events, including politics, finances, business related or religious events.”
Speaking of himself and a fellow young conservative with whom he is close, Tuttle noted, “Sometimes it feels like we are one in a million, but here’s the thing, I know we aren’t.” Tuttle wrapped up his talk encouraging the conservatives in the room to talk with their kids and grand-kids about the need to get involved and make a difference. He even offered his e-mail and phone number for any young people interested in learning more about what they can do.
Chairman Austin returned to the podium and spent a few minutes comparing the differences between conservatives and liberals today. His review included stark contrasts in ideology of the two parties on major topics such as abortion, gun control, welfare, immigration, treatment of veterans, healthcare and others. He noted that if a conservative finds themselves down and out, they find a way to better themselves, while a liberal wonders who’s going to take care of them. Austin said, “If we don’t like a certain talk show, we change the channel, if a liberal doesn’t like it, they want it banned.”
Austin continued his comments with, “Life’s not fair, get used to it. The world doesn’t care about your self esteem, we must accomplish something before we feel good about ourselves. If we mess up, don’t whine about it, learn from it. In real life everyone does not get a participation award trophy. There are winners and losers, so make yourself a winner. Just remember, we as Republicans must maintain the utmost integrity, hold our heads high in any and all adversity to fight the war we believe in.”
Austin ended by quoting Dr. Martin Luther King: “We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice, not in love with publicity but in love with humanity.”
The six candidates present were then each given time to speak to those in attendance.
Wrapping up the event was John Steward, NC GOP 9th District Chairman. Steward began by saying, “2018 is going to be a tough election cycle. The democrats are coming, they’re coming hard.” He indicated the democrats have a two step process planned for North Carolina. First they want to break the super majority in 2018. Next they want to take the majority in the NC House and Senate in 2020. “2020 is a census year, whoever controls the house and senate will draw the new districts for the next decade,” Steward said. Wrapping up the convention, Steward reminded those in attendance of the upcoming 9th District Convention on April 21 to be held at Wingate University.
The Observer will publish feature articles on each candidate’s speeches from today’s convention in the coming days as well as continue to bring you updates on the 2018 election campaigns.
