Young County Republican Meeting
The first meeting of the Young County Republicans was Jan. 15, 2019, and 27 people attended along with guest speaker Sharon Van Baal, a representative of Drew Springer’s office. Sylvia Overton opened the meeting and voiced the need for the group to be organized as a Republican organization and hold regular meetings. She reminded attendees that Kyle Milam is the Republican Party chairman and stated Pat Fallon would be in Graham for breakfast Jan. 22 followed by Jodi Arrington Jan. 23
Overton presented the election findings prepared by Kyle Milam, which highlighted comparisons between the 2016 and 2018 elections. According to Milam’s report, in the 2016 Primary Election, 6,587 votes were cast for President Trump, and only 873 votes were cast for Hillary Clinton. Moreover, in the 2018 midterm Elections, every Republican on the ballot was elected, but it was a narrow margin between the votes for “Beto” O’Rourke and Ted Cruz. Milam believes the narrow defeat was due to O’Rourke’s aggressive fundraising efforts that includes funds from University of Texas ($420,852), Alphabet Inc., ($224,863), I Street ($182,934), University of California ($134,409) and AT&T ($117,330). However, in Young County, O’Rourke received 821 votes while Cruz received 5,543. Milam noted that although Texas is still a red state, the fear is some areas are turning purple.
Bridgett Barnhill chimed in on the fear of losing to Democrats. She said, “In one election period we could turn blue. In Collin County, all of the judges went from Republican to Democrat, and this is a threat to all of our elections unless we remain a force and a presence.”
Sharon Van Baal is the chairman of the Jack County Republican Party. She said Springer asked her to discuss the importance of forming a strong Republican base, and she urged the attendees to follow her example by becoming active participants in local and county functions.
Mike Sipes said, “The Nation is not changing by revolution, but by evolution. Our children and grandchildren need to become informed and active in our beliefs.” Jerry Overton also reminded attendees about the importance of attendance and urged them to bring a friend to the meetings.
Young County Sheriff Travis Babcock expressed his dismay of the Republican Party’s lack of activity and visibility for two years. Babcock said he would support anything the Young County Republican Party chooses to do.
The Precinct Chairman Oleta Elkins stated there had not been enough Republican presence at the local voting locations. She indicated that there are nine positions to fill, but only three have been filled thus far. She said, “It is imperative we fill all of these positions and have monthly meetings where we are informed on the current issues and needs.” She also stressed the importance of all precinct chairpersons to attend the Precinct Chairman Convention that will be held immediately after the Primary Convention.
The Young County Republican Party Chairman is Kyle Milam, and his contact information is 940-550-5211.
Overton called a vote on the name “Young County Republican Party;” to hold monthly meetings except for the summer months; to meet at the NCTC at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month. The majority of the attendees voted in favor of all three points.
The summary of the second meeting will be in the March 7 issue of Olney Enterprise. The third meeting of Young County Republicans will be Tuesday, March 12, 2019.