Washington County Republicans 9/9/17 Meeting

Jennifer Carnahan, MN GOP Chair

The Washington County Republicans of Minnesota welcomed Jennifer Carnahan, Minnesota Republican Party Chair as the first speaker of the 2017 – 2018 year. Jennifer is putting her 20 years of business experience to work building and strengthening the infrastructure of the Minnesota Republican Party.

Jennifer sees strong prospects for Minnesota Republicans this year. Congressional Districts 1, 7 and 8 where Trump had strong wins in the 2016 Presidential Election are attainable seats. Because of upcoming redistricting during the next Census year, winning the Governor’s race is key to turning our state red. The State Auditor and Attorney General are also important open seats to be won. In addition, the Secretary of State seat is vulnerable to being flipped Republican.

Carnahan spoke of the three key priorities she sees for our party:
1. Build a financial war chest for the 2018 elections
2. Eliminate the debt and reduce our operating expenses
3. Build a strong organization and operating structure

She announced that after four months, the GOP has:
1. Delivered strong fundraising results May 1 – August 31, including one of our biggest fundraising months on record (July), for a non-election year.
2. Deployed an innovative state fair strategy and turned our booth into a fundraising vehicle – by implementing a merchandise emporium – which delivered record sales: a 34.1% increase versus 2016.
3. Signed a lease amendment last week, which reduced our second largest operating expenditure (monthly rental payments) by 25%, which will result in a net savings to the party of approximately $50,000 over the next 18-months.
4. Trimmed operating expenses and right-sized the organization in May/June by 13% to provide monthly efficiencies to the organization.
5. Continued to pay down our long-term debt obligations, with reductions by nearly 10% of our total since May 1.
6. Built a top-tier team and will continue to hire ‘high performing’ leaders capable of elevating our organization to the next level; to ensure strong strategy, operations and execution for the 2018 election cycle.

Carnahan is spreading a positive message and is very optimistic for 2018. After a visit to the White House and to the Republican National Committee summer meetings, she reports that both are invested in turning Minnesota red in 2018.

Lastly, she explained the Political Contribution Refund Program program where an individual can be reimbursed $50 ($100 per couple) for a contribution to the party or candidate of their choice. For more information, click here.

Carnahan was enthusiastically received and everyone was very excited!

Contribute to the Minnesota Republican Party

Join us for our next breakfast meeting at the beautiful Lake Elmo Inn on October 14, 2017 and hear Mayor Guiliani-Stephens speak!