Ever wonder how you, as a registered Republican (or Democrat for that matter) have any input or impact on the Republican National Committee (or Democrat National Committee)? It all starts with the local party committees. In West Virginia, these are the County Executive Committees, Republican and Democrat.
In accordance with WV state code Chapter 3, Article 1, Section 9, each county with three magisterial districts elects two men and two women for a total of twelve, to be members of the party’s county committee. In Greenbrier County, this means two men and two women from the Central District, and the same for the Eastern and Western magisterial districts. The committee elects a Chair and other officers. In the WVGOP, the Chairs of the 55 county executive committees become voting members of the State Executive committee (WVGOP). Further, each state senatorial district elects one man and one woman to represent them as voting members of the State Executive Committee.
Both the senatorial district WVGOP representative and the members of the county committees are elected in the midterm primary. Our next one is in May this year. Bottom line, you can more directly impact and direct the state and national party by being involved in your county committee. This includes both voting for the right people to fill those county and district positions, running for those positions yourself, and most importantly, attending the committee meetings where you can hear what’s going on and provide your input to the county committee elected to represent you.
The biggest take-away is that these party committees exist to represent the interests of their party voters to the state and national party. Additionally, the committees are a powerful direct link to your state delegate, senator and local elected officials. Accordingly, the county party committee should be holding regular meetings, inviting the party voters in the county, and inviting your elected officials and representatives to talk at the meetings. The party voters in the county should be attending these meetings when possible to provide input to the committee on their priorities and to hear about what the party and elected officials are up to. We are always interested in what’s on your mind. Remember, we are elected from the various county magisterial districts to represent the county’s Republican voters. We also do outreach and voter education. We try to find good, qualified, conservative candidates to run for office. All of this effort becomes more effective when the party voters get involved with the committee. Make your own voice heard. It’s your Party.
Respectfully, Marshall Hephner, Hinton, WV
