Hello and welcome to our newsletter. I am proud and honored to have been elected as Chairman of the Republican party of San Luis Obispo County and I am excited to lead the party into the future, building on our 2016 victories.
Most of the media focus has been the election of President Donald J Trump and VP Mike Pence. Doesn’t that sound good? President Trump is moving forward with lightning speed fulfilling his election promises. With the retention of the Senate and House of Representatives by Republicans, it is going to be a phenomenal several years. I am highly optimistic, seeing President Trump’s cabinet picks and knowing that he will be naming judges to the Supreme Court that are strict constitutionalists, that his administration will set this country back on a path that we Republicans can be proud of again.
What the media is not talking about is just as important. Republicans now hold a record number of governorships and state legislatures. The GOP now controls 33 state governorships, the highest level since 1992. Currently, the Democrats control the lowest level of State legislatures since the Civil War. The GOP picked up five state House chambers and two state Senate chambers on November 8. Republicans now control a record 68% of the 98 partisan state legislative chambers. That is 67 of the 98 of the state legislative chambers. In contrast, Democrats have total control only 13 state legislatures. There are only six states in which the Democrats have control of the legislature and the governorship. Those states are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Oregon, Rhode Island. Please see https://ballotpedia.org/Gubernatorial_and_legislative_party_control_of_state_government for more details and a very interesting graphic display.
In California, the Democrats hold a two thirds majority in each house and there are no elected statewide Republicans. That’s pretty sad. We are doing worse in California than Massachusetts. Unbelievable. But that doesn’t mean we can’t change things. We had great success here in San Luis Obispo County, by electing Jordan Cunningham to the state assembly, reelecting Debbie Arnold and electing John Peschong to the Board of Supervisors. We also had many other local nonpartisan victories. That is good news. The bad news is that we had a great shot at winning the congressional seat and lost. Also, our Republican registration lead over the Democrats has been sliding over the years and at last check was only around 2%.
I am sure you have heard the old saying “all politics is local” and it really is true. I will be introducing an aggressive political plan that will concentrate on three things. What I am calling the three “R’s” – register Republicans, recruit candidates, and raise money. The Republican Party needs your help to get it done. Consider this your call to arms! We must make our stand here in SLO County and help build the structure that is necessary to bring some common sense and Republican ideals to California. If you would like to join us in this fight, feel free to contact me directly at RPSLOChair@gmail.com.
I look forward to serving you as Chairman and want to thank you for all your service.
Tom Bordonaro, RPSLO Chairman