Charles Warner|Daily Times Union County Republican Party Chairman Mike Fowler points out an item on a form for David Gossett during Monday's GOP precinct reorganization meeting. Gossett will serve as delegate to the GOP's county convention in April.

slideshow

Union County Clerk of Court Freddie Gault and former Union County supervisor Dale Robinson confer during Monday's GOP precinct reorganization meeting.

slideshow

UNION COUNTY —The Union County Republican Party is reorganizing and wants the people of Union County to join them in doing so.

Local Republicans gathered Monday evening in the Grand Jury Room of the Union County Courthouse for the party’s biennial reorganization of the county’s precincts.

“What we’re doing is our precinct reorganization,” Mike Fowler, party chairman, said. “Every two years anybody who wants to help organize their precinct comes out and signs up with us. Each precinct operates as kind of a mini-county. This is the original grassroots organization that goes on here. The individuals that are here tonight will be the chairmen of their precincts.”

Fowler said the reorganizations serves to provide the GOP with volunteers to serve at the polls during the party primaries and to organize delegates from each precinct to the county convention which this year is tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 15. He said that each delegate to the county convention will have the opportunity to run for election to be a delegate to the state GOP convention on Saturday, May 5.

Though Union County has traditionally been strongly Democratic, that has not prevented the Republicans from sending a full slate of delegates to their state convention.

“We send either seven delegates or 14 half-delegates depending on the number of people wanting to participate in the convention,” Fowler said. “For the last two conventions we have sent 14 half-delegates because of such a larger number of folks wanting to participate. In fact, as a percentage of population, we’ve taken more people to the state convention than some of the larger counties.”

Fowler said that he expected to have 13 of the county’s 23 precincts reorganized by the end of the evening. Those precincts are:

• West Springs

• Ward 4, Box 1

• Ward 4, Box 2

• Ward 2

• Monarch Box 1

• Monarch Box 2

• Lockhart

• Jonesville Box 1

• Jonesville Box 2

• Excelsior

• Cross Keys

• Buffalo Box 1

• Bonham

Fowler said there will be a make-up reorganization meeting on April 1 for those who want to participate but were unable to attend Monday. He urged the public to come out for the meeting and help the party reorganize the rest of the county’s precincts.

“We’d love to have the other 10 organized,” Fowler said.

For more information about the Union County Republican Party and precinct reorganization call Mike Fowler at 864-251-0604 or mielfo@charter.net.