It will probably be tomorrow night before the HCRP’s candidate list is official but for now the numbers look like this.
- 453 of the 885 precincts have candidates – 51{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}
- 49 races are contested, 3 of them with 3 candidates each
- 505 persons filed
- 137 precincts will have new chairs
- 93 incumbents did not file
Of those new precinct chairs, the vast majority come directly from the protests started early in 2009. Although they are socially conservative, their political focus is on fiscal issues. Over time, the party will reflect this shift in focus.
In yesteday’s update, I noted that Ed Hubbard had taken the lead in this over a year ago and speculated on what he would say as to why he thought it was so important. He sent this in today:
You’re right–but there are actually three reasons why I’ve followed the filings for the precinct chairs this closely:
1. The precinct chairs should be the “roots” of our grassroots organization–as Claver likes to say, “you need roots to grow the grass.” Simply, put we can not grow the party without expanding our base into every neighborhood, and we will never permanently expand into every neighborhood unless we have a chair in every precinct where there are potential Republican voters. They form part of our farm team, and help find others to run for office in their communities to form the farm team; they help with ballot and election security; and they form the frontline that mobilizes our voters to vote and participate in our convention process.
2. The whole purpose of expanding the party is to elect Republicans, and there is a 7{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} average differential in turnout between those competitive precincts where we have a chair and those where we do not. The presence of an effective precinct chair is key to our get-out-the-vote effort.
and
3. It is more difficult to recruit and approve precinct chairs outside the primary process. Because of the current Vacancy Committee process, coupled with the chronic failure of getting a quorum of precinct chairs to attend the quarterly Executive Committee meetings, it is not unusual for a candidate to go a half year of more before he or she is approved to be a precinct chair. This drawn-out process is adding to our inability to put the “boots on the ground” we need to fight the Democrats.
I will post an update here later tonight (or early tomorrow) of the precinct chair filings, because Republicans should know whether the party properly performed one of its basic functions–filing its precinct chair positions.
Note that Mr. Hubbard sent that in before the deadline passed today and I’m sure he will have more to say on the overall subject later this week.
It is very important to remember that the push for participation did not come from the current leadership, it came from grassroots organizations and from a candidate to replace the current leadership. I have no doubt that if the current leadership had encouraged current precinct chairs to re-file, the numbers would be well over 500.
More on this after the HCRP’s list is official.
If you didn’t catch it, forrmer mayoral candidate Roy Morales filed to run in CD-29, making that one a crowded field. I wonder what all of those Republicans, including a sitting State Senator, will say about that after accusing him of taking payoffs in the mayoral runoff. It will be interesting to watch.