GOP Organization in Shelby County

At the last TFA meeting we heard from Kemp Conrad, chairman of the Shelby County GOP. What follows is the result of a few hastily scribbled notes combined with content from the web site:

The Republicans Party of Shelby County maintains a headquarters all the time. The Democrat counterpart only opens one during campaign season -- after elections they close up shop.

There are 61 members on the steering committee. Terms expire every two years so there is ample opportunity to get involved at a high level in the county organization. The steering committee meets on the first Thursday of every month at the headquarters on Parkplace and Ridgeway at 7:00 (p.m. one would hope, although I neglected to ask).

There are four standing committees (although I count five on the website):

• Grassroots: "Campaign groundwork, organization, and volunteer recruitment."
• Outreach: "Bringing in new people to the party with a special focus on minority communities."
• Finance: "Fundraising for party operations and special projects."
• Candidate Recruitment: "Recruiting the best and brightest candidates for public office and making endorsement recommendations to the full Steering Committee."
• Bylaws (not mentioned by Kemp): "Reviews and recommends changes to Party Bylaws."

Astoundingly, there are 11 Republican clubs in Shelby County to meet the need of just about everyone:

• Collierville Republican Club (they are looking for a webmaster).
• East Shelby Republican Club
• Bartlett/Northeast Shelby Republican Club (does not meet during the summer)
• Southeast Shelby Republican Club
• Lunch Hour Republicans (see you there!)
• Republican Career Women
• Rhodes College Republicans
• Shelby County Republican Women
• Shelby County Young Republicans (for those between 18 and 40, although they'll take your money even if you're over 40)
• Tri-County Republican Women
• University of Memphis College Republicans (the website seems woefully out of date -- maybe they are studying too hard to be tomorrow's leaders)

The GOP has every county office except Mayor and Assessor, although they hope to win back Assessor this year.

Another important race is General Sessions Court Clerk, for which Chris Turner is challenging incumbent Roscoe Dixon [an ex-state senator with high name recognition in the community so this one will be tough].

Cross posted at Memphis Red Blogs

 

Posted on Thursday at 12:27 PM in category Republican
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