(Clark County Republican Party) – Despite the dire predictions of self-serving prophets of doom, the Clark County Republican Central Committee (CCRCC) successfully held elections for the 2010 CCRP Board of Directors at the CCRCC meeting at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, according to newly-elected Chairman Bob Ruckman.
However, the most excitement of the night was when the Chair announced that Scott Brown had won a decisive victory in Massachusetts – by a larger margin than that won by President Obama in 2008 – depriving the Democrats of their veto-proof Congress, placing a major roadblock up against national-socialist healthcare and other wealth-transfer socialist national policies. The room erupted with cheering over the news of Brown’s decisive victory – and this, in turn, set the tone for the entire evening. For a political party that had been on the ropes a year ago, the Clark County Republican Party elections held the feel of a victory rally, rather than a necessary parliamentary meeting.
Yet it was exactly that – a necessary parliamentary meeting – that laid a strong foundation for Republican victory in Clark County in 2010.
“This meeting successfully proved that member democracy and the rule of law – as applied to our party – are alive and well here in Clark County,” Ruckman observed. “A few agenda-driven nay-sayers from inside and outside the party, as well as a few political gadflies around the county and the state, chose to predict chaos, disaster or worse – but proving them wrong, and thanks to the hard work of nearly 100 volunteers, this election went off without a hitch.
“As Mark Twain, who began his writing career here in Nevada, once suggested, “Rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated,” Ruckman said.
Despite weather that one attendee said “proved the Democrat party had perfected weaponized weather control technology and used it to suppress our turn-out,” more than 300 registered members and more than 120 guests turned out to participate in grass-roots democracy.
Nearly 500 men and women braved the worst weather in years to participate in the election of new officers and the necessary change in the party’s standing rules governing the election of officers. Though these new standing rules bylaws were attacked vigorously by a minority of partisans outside the meeting, the opposition raised only a few questions at the meeting itself.
The key element of these new standing rules puts the Clark County Republican Party into line with Nevada’s own voting regulations, requiring that candidates file before the election. That vote was handled civilly within ten minutes, before passing 191 to 18. This outcome confounded those gadflies and nay-sayers who predicted that an outcry among members who felt disenfranchised would shut down the meeting, and both hoped for and worked for chaos that could only assist the Republican’s opponents in November.
This change in bylaws had previously been passed unanimously, according to party rules, at a board meeting in December. These same rules were re-confirmed, unanimously, in a meeting in January that attracted 62 attendees.
In order to fulfill his pledge to run a truly transparent administration and to maximize member participation, at Chairman Ruckman’s recommendation the Executive Board agreed to place the twice-passed issue in front of the full party membership for a vote that technically wasn’t necessary. After a debate that allowed both sides to be heard, the final vote favoring the new election rules was 10 to 1 in favor of those new rules.
After all of the candidates for Party office made brief talks advocating their candidacy, more than 200 members of the CCRP cast their votes for the leaders of the Clark County Republican Central Committee, the governing board of the county party.
“The actual voting made use of official Clark County voting machines staffed by Clark County Election Department officials,” Chairman Ruckman explained. “We do this to ensure a clean, efficient and trouble-free balloting, and appreciate the cooperation and support provided to us by county officials. I’d like to give a special thanks to Larry Lomax, County Election Registrar of Voters and Joe Gloria, Senior Election Operations Supervisor, and their great staff who helped make this happen.”
The following individuals were elected to the following board positions:
Chairman – Bob Ruckman
Secretary – Michelle Ketrow
Treasurer – Eddie Facey
Executive Board Zone A – William D. Hancock
Executive Board Zone C – Sally Minster and Woody Stroupe
Executive Board Zone E – Samantha Porter
Executive Board Zone F – Diana Orrock
In addition to these elected positions, the ballot contained one non-scientific grass-roots-poll question, asking participants which candidate they preferred for Nevada Governor. The results were:
Mike Montandon – 34%
Jim Gibbons – 29%
Brian Sandoval – 26%
Undecided – 11%
In addition, members were asked to complete a 35-question grass roots straw poll; at press time, the results were still being compiled. The straw poll’s results will be released on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 and will be available on the Clark County Republican Party website (http://www.clarkgop.org.
The Clark County Republican Party will hold county-wide precinct meetings at five regional public schools on February 20th, and will hold the County Convention on March 19th at the Orleans. Details on these meetings can be found at the county party’s website, http://www.clarkgop.org.
For more information, contact: Ned Barnett, Communications Director, Clark County Republican Party – 702-696-1200 or comm@clarkgop.org. Visit our website at http://www.clarkgop.org.
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