By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The Alabama Republican Party is selecting new officers to lead it forward and to build on the spectacular successes of the last 34 years that has seen the party rise from being a non-factor in State politics to the dominant party in the State. Don Wallace, the President of the influential Alabama Republican Assembly, announced in an email to members of the Alabama Executive Committee, that he was seeking the position of Vice Chair of the Alabama Republican Party.
Don Wallace wrote, “As we end the year, may we all set aside the fighting among fellow conservatives inside our party, choosing instead to focus on electing conservative Republicans in 2016. No more calling on each other to resign, no more personal attacks on each other’s character, no more accusations about who recruited who to run for state committee or anything else. Let us all decide to learn from our mistakes and resolve to work together in a more cohesive manner in the future.”
President Wallace continued, “Our state and our nation need conservative leadership that will avoid raising taxes, work to reduce the size of unnecessary government, defend our first and second amendment rights, protect life and uphold the traditional Christian values that have made us a great nation.”
Wallace concluded, “The 2014 elections are behind us. Let us resolve to work together in the new year, around our common values as expressed in our platform. In that spirit, I announce my intention to seek the position of Senior Vice-Chair of the Alabama Republican Party. We already have two wonderful candidates that have announced their desire to lead our party for the next 2 years. I hope you will join me in helping them unite our party in purpose and vision.”
Don Wallace is a self-employed CPA in the Tuscaloosa area who attended the University of Alabama.
The Alabama Republican Assembly is an affiliate of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies.
The group describes themselves as, “the conscience of the Republican Party.”
The self described mission of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies is, “A grassroots movement to take back the Republican Party for the vast and disenfranchised majority of its members: Reagan conservatives, who believe in small government, lower taxes, free market capitalism, a strong defense, the right to life, and a decent America.”
The Alabama Republican Assembly drew headlines when it recently announced its opposition to a state lottery and the expansion of casino gambling in the state of Alabama.
Under the rules of the Alabama Republican Party, most counties in the State have some sort of County Republican Party that meets most months. Dues paying members of the County Republican Party can run to be members of their State and County Republican Executive Committees. The County’s Republican Primary voters (in the non-presidential year) vote on who will represent them on the County and State Republican Executive Committees. Most counties also automatically include their Republican elected officials as members of the County Executive Committee. The County Republican Executive Committee members elect a County Chairman, who is automatically a member of the State Executive Committee. In many cases the County Executive Committee also elects some state executive committee members, either bonus members or when a vacancy arises. The over 500 members of the Alabama Republican Party State Executive Committee meet twice a year at the Winter and Summer meetings in Montgomery and Birmingham to set priorities and rules for the Alabama Republican Party. They also elect officers for the party. These officers serve on the 22 member Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee that meets quarterly. The day to day business of the party is handled by the Alabama Republican Party Chairman.
The popular Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, Bill Armistead, is stepping down as Chairman at the Winter Meeting in February.
The Mobile County Republican Party Chair, Terry Lathan has announced her candidacy for the position. So has former State Representative Mary Sue McClurkin from Indian Springs.
George Williams is the current Alabama Republican Party Vice Chairman.<
