Tomorrow night, at 7 pm in Newton, the Massachusetts Republican State Committee will hold its organizational meeting. The bulk of tomorrow's agenda consists of choosing candidates for a variety of offices within the party. To my knowledge, only two of these are contested: national committeewoman and vice-chairman. In addition, the continuation in office of the state chair must also be ratified.
Let me start with the easiest one: I'll be voting to keep Bob Maginn as the chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party. I think Bob has done an admirable job in the few short months he has served as chairman. He has been a very successful fundraiser, and he has kept his promise to renew our party's efforts to keep the state legislative seats we do hold, and win even more. He has more than earned the chance to lead our party into the 2012 elections.
In the contested races, I'll be voting for Chanel Prunier as the next national committeewoman from Massachusetts and Steve Aylward as the next vice-chairman. I ran for state committee because I want to see a renewed focus on the grassroots, and an increased emphasis placed on increasing the number of Republican legislators in the state House and state Senate, as well as the number of Republican officeholders in "down-ticket" races throughout the Commonwealth. I also ran because I want the party to pay more attention to areas where, the nay-sayers carp, "Republicans can't win." While I have great respect for the long and dedicate service given to our party by Kerry Healey and Jeanne Kangas, and I very much appreciate the time that many of their supporters have taken to talk with me about these races, I firmly believe that Chanel and Steve are both more likely to lead our party along the paths I described above.
I very much hope that the other members of the state committee join me tomorrow night in supporting Bob, Chanel, and Steve. As always, I am more than happy to talk with anyone about the votes I intend to cast tomorrow night, or about anything else.
