Brown County GOP: Moving Forward in Leadership

Matt touched on the great conversation we had with John Becker, one of at least three members of Ohio's General Assembly present at the Brown County GOP Lincoln/Reagan Day Dinner. However, another big story is the farewell of Brown County GOP Chair Paul Hall. After ten years, Mr. Hall is stepping down as chair to focus on his family and his expanding business ventures. Also, his wife Jill has stepped up to be appointed county auditor, and Mr. Hall declared that after strong showings as a candidate himself, it is time for his wife to have the spotlight. In his speech, Mr. Hall talked about how far Brown County and the County GOP have come. He talked about how the Party now has 10 of 14 offices in the County. He talked of how we have become the anchor of the Ohio ORP, always good for high turnout and voter support for GOP candidates. He also mentioned his right arm, deputy chair Mariah Votel, who in my opinion is the presumptive frontrunner for the chair. And she should be. No other member of the county GOP, save for Al Spiller and Jesse Millikan, have done more or worked harder in the last four years to put the Brown County GOP on the map than Mariah Votel. And Al and Jess do not want the job. Mariah has shown excellent leadership both in the Republican Club, as a member of the Board of elections, and in the central committee. She was able to get a Presidential contender in Rick Santorum to come to the county, as well as up and coming conservative Republican leaders like Senator K. Ayotte. She has been an alternate delegate to the RNC, as well as working to get parties and meetings organized and staffed. I know there may be some in the party who may have some type of personal disdain or past issue with Ms. Votel. However, I think it is hard to argue that with her in leadership, the party has prospered and achieved much. With continued support, I believe indeed that Ms. Votel can continue to lead the party forward, with the aid of stalwart elder statesmen like Paul Hall and Bill Herdmann, and the energy of some of the newer folks who have jumped into the fray of joining the central committee. If we put aside our differences and band together to move our county and state forward, and to save our country, we can be a force in electoral politics for some time. Yes, Ms. Votel has big shoes to fill, not just in size (bad joke). Paul did a lot for the party. But Paul had big shoes to fill when he assumed chairmanship as well. The party worked hard and banded together and became successful. The same thing can happen again to move the party even farther toward excellence. I hope that is the case.