Every two years, during the summer of an election year, the county GOP hosts a “Jamboree” at the South County Civic Center. With a barbecue lunch under the pavillion roof, surrounded by covered booths hosted by candidates and political clubs, it is gathering place for the GOP faithful and those who seek to represent them at all levels of government.
This year was no different, although there are fewer contested races than in years past, and thus fewer candidates to strut their stuff. With the absence of a Senate race or close primary for Governor, the intensity was somewhat subdued, but the stakes are as high as ever, and those in attendance were asked to help get our candidates over the finish line.
Clockwise from upper left: Alan Schlesinger, Calvin Turnquest, Brian Lara, Jay Bonner, Andrea McGee, Paul Spain, David Wagie, Kesnel Theus, Joseph Moore, Andrew Schaller, Thomas Sutterfield, Steven Abrams, MC Peter Feaman, Stuart Mears and Ellyn Bogdanoff.
With Committeman Peter Feaman as MC, the candidates made their pitch.
Three of the six Republicans seeking to challenge Patrick Murphy in CD18 were present, including Alan Schlesinger, Brian Lara, and Calvin Turnquest. And in CD22, all three of Lois Frankel’s challengers – David Wagie, Paul Spain and Andrea McGee participated, as did our challenger for Alcee Hastings CD20, Jay Bonner. There is no Republican challnger against Ted Deutch in CD21.
At the state level we had Ellyn Bogdanoff, seeking a rematch with Maria Sachs in SS34. After the redistricting shuffle left two sitting Senators to go head to head in 2012 for a D+9 district, Sachs prevailed with 53% of the vote. With turnout expected to be less favorable to Democrats in this midterm, the rematch could have a different result. Stuart Mears, challenging Mark Pafford for House District 86 was with us as well.
None of the executive candidates (Governor, AG, CFO, Agriculture) were present.
At the county level, we heard from Steven Abrams, running for re-election as county commissioner in district 4, and Andy Schaller who is seeking the open seat in district 6 vacated by term limited Jess Santamaria, and school board candidates Joseph Moore, the district 6 challenger to incumbent Marcia Andrews, and Thomas Sutterfield for the open seat in district 4. Kesnel Theus, who is running against Peyton McArthur for the open seat on the Port Commission joined us as well.
Commissioner Steven Abrams and Committeewoman Cindy Tindell
In Wellington, the candidates for School Board district 6 were in attendance (incumbent Marsha Andrews and challengers Joseph Moore and Carla Donaldson), joined by one candidate from district 3 (John Hartman, who also attended the Boca event).
At a table that spanned the width of the West Boca branch library meeting room, a good mix of candidates showed up to answer questions posed by moderator David DiCrescenzo. The candidates were sent a questionaire in advance of the event, and those and additional questions were posed appropriate to the type of seat sought.
Seated at a long table, 10 candidates for 3 north county races (Congress 18, Senate 32, and House 82) answered questions from moderator Michael Williams, Emmy winning anchor of WPTV’s “To the Point“.
Meet the candidates at a great catered old-fashioned political barbeque, and join us at the PBC GOP’s 6th biennial Jamboree at the South County Civic Center on August 2.
This year, the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches is happy to award the Anne Roberts Scholarships to five deserving scholars – one new award and continuing support for four previous winners.
The awards were presented by former Congressman Mark Foley, who has provided significant contributions to our scholarship fund (including an additional $2000 at the meeting). Stressing the importance of finding young Republicans who can be tomorrow’s leaders, he spoke of the harm to the younger generation that the Obama policies have wrought, and how our message to them should be one of opportunity. Encouraging the younger generation to run for public office, “Politics is a rough and tumble business” he said, but “also one that can be very rewarding”.
The recipients are:
Jason Ferrara, who will be a senior in political science at the University of Alabama and going to law school next year. His father is attorney and REC member Jim Ferrara of Boca Raton. Not able to join us today, he sent his thanks and pointed out that he is hoping to volunteer in political campaigns this summer.
John Ryan Clark, who will be a senior in in political science, international affairs, Chinese, Business and Asian studies at FLorida State. He also plans to attend law school with a Chinese law program. He is currently in Tianjin, China on a Gilman Scholarship from the US State Department and could not be with us.
Daniel Kozell, younger brother to past president Rick Kozell, who will graduate in May with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Dylan Brandenburg, who learned his skills in computer and political science from working in political campaigns with his parents Gary and Kathy Brandenburg of North Palm Beach. A student at Florida State, he joined the Computer Criminology program and has worked for the state of Florida in the Insurance Fraud Division, and now works for Dana and Johnston Blakely in their business “On Track Investigations” who are sponsoring him for his private investigator license.
Hanna Matry, our newest recipient who received her AA degree from Palm Beach State and is now in her 2nd year at the College of Engineering at the University of Florida, majoring in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. She is just starting a summer internship with Rocketdyne at the old Pratt&Whitney site. Not able to be with us, her mother Joanne Matry arranged for her to thank us in a video which was played at the meeting.
Also at the meeting, we heard from county GOP Chair Anita Mitchell who reported that the county party is now “in the black”. Anita told us about the party program to reach out to independents (50% of whom used to be Republicans), and to create a “service” orientation, beyond politics. The latter is designed to present a helpful presence in the community through helping people with problems they are having with government, and to work with groups such as the Boys and Girls clubs.
Mary Kate Knorr, the Republican Victory Center Manager, brought us up to speed on their plans, and stressed that volunteers are needed for a variety of jobs in addition to the more traditional precinct walking and phone-banking.
Candidates present included Calvin Turnquest, Nick Wukoson and Brian Lara running in CD18, David Wagie of CD22, and John Hartman – the only Republican in any school board race, running for Karen Brill’s seat.
CD 18 Candidate Calvin Turnquest and Mike Barnett
Fran Hancock, Dylan Brandenburg, Bette Anne Starkey
Please Join us for the awarding of the 2014 Annual Anne Roberts Scholarships.
Presenting the awards for the club will be former Congressman Mark Foley. In the early days of the scholarship, Mark’s contributions allowed us to follow the students throughout their entire college years.
Also at this meeting, we will hear from PBC GOP Chair Anita Mitchell who will bring us up to speed on “Anita’s Rules for Winning – GAME ON!”.
Then Anita Carbone, who is running the Victory Center this year for the Palm Beach Republican Club, will tell us about the exciting volunteering opportunities up on the 6th floor.
Please join us and celebrate the day with our young scholars.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014Program Noon – 1PM, Buffet starts at 11:45AMBear Lakes Country Club
1901 Village Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33409$20/Members $25/Guests
Pay at the door (RSVP “No Shows” will be invoiced.)
Make sure you submit your RSVP in advance by clicking on our link below:
Please respect Club rules: Cell Phones Silenced, Business Casual Attire, Please No Jeans Republican Club of the Palm Beaches
PO Box 2585
West Palm Beach, FL 33402
(561) 855-0749
Former Congressman Mark Foley was born in Newton, Massachusetts. He attended Palm Beach Community College from 1973 to 1975. He served as city commissioner for Lake Worth, Florida, in 1977 and as vice mayor from 1983 to 1984. He was a member of the Florida state house of representatives from 1990 to 1992 and a member of the Florida state senate from 1993 to 1995 until elected to Congress from the (then) 16th district. He resigned from the House in 2006.
County Party Chair Anita Mitchell was elected without opposition to replace former Chair Ira Sabin who resigned last September. Mother of West Palm Beach Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell, she has helped raise money for a variety of GOP candidates over the years, including Mitt Romney and Rick Scott, and has been a long-time member and leader of the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches.
Political consultant Anita Carbone is the 2014 manager of the GOP Victory Center for the Palm Beach Republican Club, and has been a board member of the PBC GOP. She has served as a field coordinator on the campaigns of many local politicians, including former Congressman Allen West.
The invocation and pledge were done by Michael Barnett.
Rick Kozell, President of the RCPB, thanked Marilynn Parmet and the RCNPB for jointly sponsoring this event. Noting that this year’s Primary Election in less than 3 months away on August 26, Rick pointed out that the notable races were the District 18 Congressional race against a Democratic incumbent in a primarily Republican District. Also noted was the importance of the Governor’s race, with the good news that Florida is leading the nation in job creation and Governor Scott is raising 3 times as much as Charlie Crist.
Future meetings of the RCPB will include another possible joint meeting with RCNPB with Florida CFO Jeff Atwater as the speaker and a Candidate Forum for Districts 18 and 22.
All members were encouraged to join the leadership group, and all were encouraged to state reaching out to undecided voters to get them to support Republican candidates.
Bette Anne Starkey announced the winners of the Anne Roberts Memorial Scholarship Winners, and pointed out that the scholarships will be awarded at our next meeting in June.
Rick Kozell announced, with regret, his resignation as President of the RCPB because he is taking a new job in Washington, D.C. for a couple of years. In conformance with our bylaws, Rick asked for nominations from the floor to fill the office of President. Bill Diamond rose to nominate former State Committeewoman and long time club member, Fran Hancock, with the nomination being seconded by several other club members. After hearing no further nominations from the floor, a motion was made to close the floor to nominations; this motion was seconded and passed without opposition. The vote on the nomination of Fran Hancock was then taken, and she was elected by the club members present without opposition.
The guest speaker was Adam Putnam, the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Focusing on the great importance of keeping the Governor’s office in Republican hands, Commissioner Putnam encouraged the grass roots to start talking to their undecided neighbors about the accomplishments of Governor Scott and the importance of his re-election to Florida, and the business and families who have thrived under the low taxes and reduced regulatory obstructions advanced under his administration.
Candidates for office were then given 3 minutes to speak to the audience. The meeting closed with Rick Kozell thanking the leadership group and the club members for the support and help they provided during his tenure as club President.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam was the featured speaker at a joint meeting of the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches and the Republican Club of the Northern Palm Beaches, He told the audience that Florida is the last bastion of large states that are not blue in color, and if the Governorship is lost, Florida will look more like Michigan, New York, Ohio and California.
Florida needs to stay conservative by keeping Republicans as the Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer and, the Agriculture Commissioner, and as the majority party in the Florida House and Senate. Pointing out that Republicans are the ones with solutions in the country, he noted that in Florida Republicans have created an environment for businesses to succeed and families to thrive. Palm Beach County is the perfect example of the American Dream. Noting that the current culture of problem solving is fragile, he reminded the audience that just a few years ago Time Magazine had a cover story calling Florida the “Sunset State”, claiming that tourism, real estate, the manufacturing base and diversity in the economy were all dead. At the same time the Wall Street Journal had front page stories claiming that Florida had a 15 to 20 year glut of condos.
Today, 5 years later, with a Republican Governor, Florida leads the nation in job creation, crime is at a 43 year low, and it has a balanced budget after paying off $5 Billion in debt and putting $3 Billion into a savings account in case of hurricanes. Florida and Texas are succeeding, with our chief competitors being states in the southeast like the Carolinas and Tennessee which, like Florida, have low taxes and low regulatory burdens. Florida can set its own destiny, with things in Washington broken for the foreseeable future.
Hilary Clinton, wants a Democratic Governor in Tallahassee to help bolster her presidential run. The potential opponent to Governor Scott is likely to be Charlie Crist who has changed his mind on every single issue of conscience. He has no compass. People can respect leaders who hold beliefs, but someone like Crist undermines public confidence. We need to be energized to keep him from being re-elected as he has morphed from a Republican to an Independent and now to a Democrat. While Crist left the state with many problems when he left the Governorship, we want to make Florida better by improving tourism, engaging in the shale gas revolution, bringing back Pratt Whitney, developing biotech, and creating more medical cities. Florida is not just a prize to be enjoyed later in life, it can be the American Dream now for many people. That’s why our leadership is so important.
Why is having a Republican Governor so important? The Florida Constitution requires that we re-write it every 20 years, so the next Governor will have the right to name half of the committee which will do this. Clubs like ours are in the front line of grass roots activism to keep Republicans in control of our state. In 2010 Republicans were passionate and committed, and this is what is needed this year. Nothing is more persuasive than our supporters talking to their neighbors one-on-one. It is much more important than any advertising done during a campaign. The other side has put legalizing medical marijuana on the ballot to energize their base and increase turnout. We all need to pull together for the good of the state by continuing the pro-business, pro-family environment we have created in Florida.
In lieu of a July meeting, come join us at the annual county GOP Lobster Fest. Use the [PRINT] button above right to print the flyer, reserve your seat with GOP and send in your check, then click on the RSVP button below if you would like to reserve space to sit with us at the RCPB tables.
