Conservatives across the country are applying for local Republican official positions in a bid to reform the party. Some feel a major part of the party establishment consists of “Republicans in name only,” or RINOs, who no longer represent their voter base.
The movement aims to fill the many vacant positions of precinct committee officers. Those involved in the effort estimate that roughly 400,000 of these jobs exist nationwide, with half or more empty, although the precise number is hard to determine since the GOP doesn’t publish overall data.
These grassroots positions wield significant power and influence. Either directly or through electors and delegates, they elect state GOP leaders as well as a state’s delegation to the Republican National Committee (RNC), which then elects the national party leadership. They are also commonly drawn upon to fill election oversight positions, such as poll observers and ballot signature verification monitors. Some local party committees also endorse primary candidates and may organize get-out-the-vote efforts for a particular candidate.
Interest in the committee positions surged in recent weeks after the topic was picked up by several conservative writers and personalities, and began to spread on social media.
The general sentiment of the movement is that Republicans need to get more actively involved in politics and demand that their party and its candidates faithfully represent their values.
The idea of virtually taking over the Republican Party through filling vacant precinct positions has long been advocated by Arizona lawyer Dan Schultz. Since at least 2009, he’s produced a book, a website, and numerous articles and videos on the subject and sought to influence the party’s movers and shakers, with limited success.
The major breakthrough appears to have come on Feb. 6, when Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, hosted Schultz on his talk show. Interest then started to snowball, with several articles in small conservative outlets and further appearances on Bannon’s show, Schultz told The Epoch Times.
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