ELECTION WRAPUP
Troy Reinhart, our new Chairman, had this to say about the recent national elections and the future.
What the November 4 election means:
The votes are counted. To say the least it was a mixed bag. It is sad anytime you lose an election and especially when good Republicans like Chuck Burley, Gordon Smith and Mike Daly. It is important that we thank each of them for their service to our State and Community. Their leadership will be sorely missed.
But all was not lost on November the 4th. In fact there was some very exciting news to come out of the elections.
Three great Republicans were elected to the Bend City Council. Kathie Eckman, Jeff Eager and Tom Greene will do a great job in turning around the City of Bend. They unseated two incumbents that had been taking the City down the wrong path for the last 8 years. Congratulations to you all.
Don Leonard the fourth candidate was not able to unseat the Democrat incumbent Jim Clinton. But he ran a great race. In fact the Bulletin has all but endorsed Don to be the replacement for Chris Telfer when she takes her seat in the Oregon Senate.
Every tax measure on the ballot was defeated by the voters. It is a clear sign that the voters understand that the answer to good government is not taking more money out of the working peoples pockets. That is the Republican message.
On the National level there was also good news. The popular vote was very close for the Presidential contest as well as for most of the lost Senate seats. This means to us that the message was not lost on the voters just that we have to tell our story better.
As one person in our local party said to us after the election …….. “we need to change our language to be positive….we need to bring back the big tent of Ronald Reagan and sell our vision of the shining City on the Hill.”
Over the next two years it is our jobs to support the good Republican that we have elected and to look for those that will be candidates in the next round of elections. We can take a breather until the New Year and then it is back on our feet and start the march to the next election where we are sure to make a significant statement at the local level.