SPECTRUM: Proud to be a Republican

Every two years the Alaska Republican Party (ARP) holds a statewide convention - hundreds of delegates selected from Districts across Alaska gather to write the Rules, adopt a Platform and Resolutions and elect officers of the State Party.

The 2018 Convention meet in Anchorage March 8-10.

The first step to a State Convention is holding local District conventions which communities around Alaska held from late November to early February. 358 grassroots delegates were selected from Bettles to Ketchikan and all met in Anchorage to meet, greet and debate.

Thursday was devoted to Platform, Resolutions and Rules Committee meetings. The Freedom Club of the ARP held a reception for all our state legislative candidates that evening and every candidate was given an opportunity to introduce themselves and make their pitch! Former Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell held a Young Republican reception at the downtown home and the Independent Expenditure group, Alaskans for Dunleavy, invited all delegates to a reception at Fat Ptarmigan. The Rules Committee, for those immersed in the process of governing in the Party, slogged on until 11:15 pm when we finally finished our work. The Convention delegates worked Friday until 11pm to complete the work on the Rules, Platform and Resolutions.

The State Convention is also a great opportunity to hear from Republican speakers.

Friday breakfast with Mayor Charlie Pierce of the Kenai Peninsula Borough and Rebecca Logan, the next Mayor of Anchorage!

Friday lunch, long and informative speeches from four Republican candidates for Governor, Mike Chenault, Mike Dunleavy, Michael Sheldon and Scott Hawkins. Friday evening sizzled with Suzanne Downing of MustReadAlaska, John Moller of Juneau and former Governor Sean Parnell!

Saturday breakfast featured closing statements from the Republican candidates for Governor and solid speeches from four candidates for Lt. Governor, Stephen Wright, Senator Kevin Meyer, Lynn Gattis and Edie Grunwald.

Saturday lunch with District 21 State House candidate Marilyn Stewart, US Senator Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young!

Topped off Saturday night with Young Republican President Ryan McKee and our special guest speaker, Liz Wheeler of the OAN show Tipping Point!

Delegates enjoyed outstanding panels. The Millennial Panel (with national leaders of College and Young Republicans and our own local celebrity, Jeremy Price of Americans for Prosperity. The Redistricting Panel, with old war horses Tuckerman Babcock (1990s redistricting), from Senator Dave Donley (author of the current law on redistricting) and Randy Ruedrich, key player for the last twenty years in redistricting battles.

Perhaps the panel that stole the show: the inspiring "Why I am a Republican" panel Saturday morning. Led by moderator Nick Begich III, the panel included 13 mostly young Republicans telling their stories and their journeys in choosing to be a Republican. They brought the house down with their sincerity, struggles and hope for the future.

Kristin Hemphill of the Republican National Committee data team did an excellent presentation on the use of the GOP Data Center. Judy Eledge, President of the Anchorage Republican Women's Club organized a very informative and innovative "Speed Dating" with candidates.

Credentials check-in went as smoothly as could possibly be hoped, and canvassing was always available and was right on schedule to collect the "clickers" at the end of session. Thank you to Co-Chairs Kristie Babcock - Soldotna and Annette Kreitzer - Juneau!

I am very thankful for the Convention Committee Co-Chairs, Ryan McKee - Wasilla, Mary Ann Pruitt - Anchorage and Rina Salazar - Anchorage for the work, dedication and attention to detail. The program was attractive, informative and highlighted our many Republican legislators! I believe this was the youngest Convention organizing team in state history!

Ken and Cynthia Henry designed and built the table decorations, Ken Bottcher brought Trump/Pence 4x8s all the way from his home in Talkeetna, Rina Salazar surprised us all with a fun convention photo booth, Ardie Robertson and Zoi Maroudas provided cookies and delicious food for receptions!

Lots of fun auction items: Dean of the House wine from Ralph Samuels, an African drum from Lorne Bretz, Frank McQueary's political memorabilia, Sen. Murkowski and a rare Trump Inauguration photo, Lynn Boots artwork, Cheryl Frasca jewelry, and on and on. I ask pardon of those I have left out! Every item is appreciated!

Our Committee Chairs who accepted my appointment were amazing volunteers. Loren Leman and Brian Hove stepped up to try and handle the most difficult assignment, Floor Managers for all Platform and Resolution presentations. This is always a challenging and difficult task and I appreciate their efforts!

John Binkley, Kay Schuster, Mary Ann Pruitt, Rep. David Eastman, Stacey Stone-Semmler, Elyce Santerre, Sen. David Wilson, Edie Grunwald, Matt Fangani, Dan Kendall, Rick Whitbeck, Peter Goldberg, Sharon Jackson, all were valiant in their volunteer effort to manage their respective committees!

Dallas Massie and Steve Strait were solid Sargent-at Arms.

The receptions, from the Freedom Club reception for State Legislative candidates Thursday, to the Lt. Governor candidates (Kevin Meyer, Edie Grunwald and Lynn Gattis) Friday and the final reception sponsored by US Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, were the places to be!

ARP officer elections held Saturday resulted in my reelection, the election of Glenn Clary as Vice Chair, Vivian Stiver as Secretary and Trevor Shaw as Assistant Secretary. A heartfelt thank you to the service to our Party by our previous Vice Chair, Jon Faulkner, Secretary Edna DeVries and Assistant Secretary, Miranda Strong. A special thank you for the time and dedication by former Vice Chair Rick Whitbeck as well!

Next State Convention is 2020...if you are a Republican in Alaska you are invited to attend! Our mantra: Grow the Party, Raise money, Elect Republicans and Have Fun Doing It!

2018 STATEWIDE CANDIDATE RECOMMENDATIONS

Assembled Convention delegates voted on whether to recommend candidates in contested races in the Republican statewide primary. Any candidate with substantial support (at least 35%) earned the recommendation from the State Convention.

The Alaska Republican Party recommended candidates for Governor are: Rep. Mike Chenault (43%), Mike Dunleavy (77%) and Scott Hawkins (76%).

The Alaska Republican Party recommended candidates for Lt. Governor are: Lynn Gattis (69%), Edie Grunwald (59%) and Sen. Kevin Meyer (78%)