Arkansas Republican Assembly Convention & Presidential Straw Poll

[ARRA Editor's Note: This press release was held pending publication by other news sources. It is now printed for the ARRA general membership and our readers]
ARRA Press Release [7/24] - Clarksville, AR - Delegates of the Arkansas Republican Assembly (ARRA) gathered for its 10th annual state convention on Saturday, July 21, 2007 in Clarksville, Arkansas. In addition to electing officers, workshops led by three assembly county leaders, and keynote speaker Eagle Forum Chairman Randy Minton, delegates voted in support of Fred Thompson for the GOP presidential bid.

Dr. Patrick Briney, ARRA President, opened the convention and addressed the delegates. He told the delegates that the Arkansas Republican Party needs the Arkansas Republican Assembly. The ARRA is referred to as the conscience of the Republican Party but is most often identified as the Ronald Reagan Republicans because the popular former president credits the Assemblies with his initial political pursuits. The ARRA is home to social, moral, and fiscal conservative Arkansans who believe in God, family, and country and who work together to strengthen and to uphold moral and traditional family values and Republican principles and ideals.

Briney recounted that in the past year ARRA conducted research and issued referenced position papers on several issues. These position papers were provided to conservative Arkansas Republicans to help them understand and to formulate positions on critical issues. As a result, several proposals advanced by liberals in the 2007 legislative session were defeated. Bills successfully defeated include the ERA amendment, the hate crime bill, the lottery proposal, the subversive plan to ditch the Electoral College, and tuition for illegal aliens. ARRA members also successfully supported legislative action to provide for “informed consent” requirements to a woman seeking an abortion, to require merchants to have “blinder racks” that cover the lower two-thirds of the covers of pornographic magazines on their display racks to protect children, and to prohibit sexually-oriented businesses from being located within 1000 feet of a child care facility, park, church, playground, public library, recreational area, residence, school, or other locations frequented by children.

Convention workshops were held by three County Republican Assembly presidents: Mike Sevak of Benton, Dr. Bill Smith of Baxter, and Randy Minton of Lonoke. They addressed perspectives on the issues of membership recruitment, recruitment of conservative Republican candidates, structure of assemblies, advancing influence in the state, and supporting the local republican committees and groups. Smith also presented an overview of the impact of the ARRA website and the Arkansas Republican Assemblies blog. During the last year, the blog has grown in national importance, is syndicated, and can be subscribed to at no cost.

The keynote speaker was Randy Minton of the Arkansas Eagle Forum. He addressed the issues of concern to conservatives. Minton detailed the position of each known potential Republican presidential candidate on these issues. Issues included pro-life values, illegal immigration solutions, traditional marriage positions, and taxation principles. In addition the “X-factor: who can win the election” was considered.

After Minton’s presentation, convention delegates conducted a secret straw poll vote resulting in a decisive 86% victory for Fred Thompson who is expected to declare his bid in the race in September. The straw poll was not a formal endorsement by the Arkansas Republican Assembly. However, the straw poll did provide the ARRA delegates to the 2007 Republican Assembly National Convention with a nonbinding expression as to whom the ARRA membership favors at this time. The National Convention meets in Saint Louis on August 3 - 5. In the fall, after presidential candidates have formally filed in Arkansas, ARRA delegates may endorse a candidate.

Officer election results were: ARRA President Dr. Patrick Briney, Vice President Duane Neal, Secretary Joyce Dial, Treasurer A.L. Hollingsworth, Chaplain Gerald Holland, Sergeant-at-Arms Vince Scarlata, and National NFRA Board Members: Duane Neal & Joyce Dial.

The ARRA was chartered Aug. 9, 1997 under the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA), which has a 70 year history of success as a true grassroots organization. The NFRA is our nation's oldest and largest Republican volunteer organization. ARRA is presently chartering county chapters and serving as a gathering point for fiscal and social conservatives. For more information: Visit the ARRA Website or contact Dr. Pat Briney at 479-443-0510. [End]

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