Bay Area Republicans welcomed CAGOP convention attendees from throughout California at the Friday night, May 17 kick-off reception. Led by Bay Area Regional Vice Chair Jason Clark, Republican county committees, volunteer clubs and candidates put on a rousing event that launched the convention and set the tone for the weekend.
The largest collaboration of Bay Area Republicans in recent memory included all 6 county parties in the CAGOP’s Bay Area region, SPARC – the South Peninsula chapter of the California Congress of Republicans, AAPIRA – Asian American Pacific Islander Republican Alliance, East Bay Republican Club, candidates Vin Kruttiventi, Anna Kramer and Bruce Lou for Congress, Alex Glew and Yvette Corkrean for State Senate, Joe Rubay and Liz Lawler for Assembly, BayAreaGOP.com, Corrin Rankin, Helen Wang, Jeff Burns and Bill Jackson.
On Saturday, the California Young Republicans, California Log Cabin Republicans, and California Congress of Republicans, all organizations with a strong Bay Area membership, sponsored a “Studio 24” disco party that drew dancers onto the dance floor throughout the evening.
Public safety was the theme for the Friday dinner as former Los Angeles County DA Steve Cooley and Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco highlighted the failure of California Democrats to deal with increasing property crimes and homelessness. At the urging of the panel, the convention endorsed the Reform Prop 47 initiative which received over 900,000 signatures to help qualify it for the November ballot. The initiative increases penalties for repeat retail theft and adds fentanyl to the list of hard drugs, so that drug dealers who traffic in large quantities can be sent to state prison.
Fox news analyst and rumored candidate for Governor Steve Hilton was a highly visible participant, keynoting the nomination session for Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steel and Republican National Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon. Both Steel and Dhillon were re-elected to their positions at the general session on Sunday.
Republicans also had the opportunity to prepare for the fall election campaign by attending numerous training sessions throughout the weekend. CAGOP Deputy Executive Director Krista Pittman outlined the party’s approach to ballot harvesting and ballot curing while in the Voter Registration session, Orange County Field Director Ryan May described a strategy of reaching out to NPP voters and encouraging them to become Republicans. It turns out that a significant number of Republican voters were re-registered NPP without their knowledge in online sessions with the DMV. Once aware of the change, many of these voters were willing to return to the GOP.
Not to be overshadowed, RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump proved to be an articulate spokesperson for both the Republican Party and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump as she rallied supporters for the fall Presidential campaign. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem highlighted her personal story of taking over her family ranch at a young age following the death of her father. Her interest in tax reform was kindled when she learned that death taxes could have forced her to sell the ranch just to pay the tax. Thankfully, she was able to preserve her family business and went on to serve in Congress and then as Governor.
The California GOP meets only once during election years and only once every four years in the Bay Area. Over 800 delegates, associate delegates and guests took advantage of the opportunity. Thank you to all the Bay Area Republicans who helped make this convention such a memorable experience!