Four months ago, I formally announced my candidacy for this
office, and tonight I gratefully accept the nomination for the presidency of
the Orange County Young Republicans.
Michele and I have met some amazing people in Central Florida
and around the state since we joined this club about 2½ years ago. In this brief time, I have been privileged to
be chosen as a state co-chair of Rick Santorum's
Patriot Voices organization, to be honored as the "2012 OCYR of the
Year", and to be elected earlier this year as the Vice President of this
club. I want to thank Christian Waugh
and Eric Jontz for your guidance and your faith in me.
We have a big year ahead of us,
with critical elections coming after our traditional Hob Nob event in July. With training, hard
work and dedication, we will regain a GOP majority in the Orange County state
legislative delegation, by holding our current seats and flipping 2 seats from
(D) to (R). Young Republicans like
ourselves will be on the frontline to re-elect the Republican Congressmen that
represent our County, and we will lead the way in securing the crucial I-4 corridor for Governor Scott
and the entire Cabinet. We will continue
to host the best guest speakers at our regular monthly meetings, to provide
access for our members to the leading politicians in Central Florida.
For the Republican party, our 18-40 age group is a critical
demographic that deserves a seat at the table with those who are setting policy
and calculating the political consequences of those policy decisions. I’ve been honored to lead the statewide
effort to adopt a Young Republican platform in the tradition of the one that Ronald
Reagan spoke about at the 1976 Convention, “a platform that is a banner of
bold, unmistakable colors, with no pastel shades,” that we can carry throughout
the state to communicate to our fellow young Floridians the obvious differences
between ourselves and the Democrats. We will continue to add young people into our
Party, and we will strive to have the most members of any YR club in Florida.
Like Reagan said in his acceptance speech at the RNC in
Detroit in July 1980, the Republican Party may have internal quarrels, “but only as to the method of attaining a goal.” There is no argument about the goal – it’s
the same as it was 33 years ago – our party is the only one that has the
“positive programs for solving the nation's problems; a party ready to build a
new consensus with all those across the land who share a community of values
embodied in these words: family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom.”
I am humbled by the additional responsibility conferred by your
continued trust in me, and I will not nonchalantly watch our county, state or
country suffer under mediocre leadership at any level. The Governor likes to say “let’s get to
work!” and I couldn’t agree more. You
and I will prove how invaluable Young Republicans are to this party and I am
excited to start working on these goals together with you.
Thank you, may God bless you this Christmas season, and may
He continue to bless the United States of America.
