Paul Stephens, a 21-year-old candidate* vying for the position of MI GOP Youth Vice Chair, stopped by Emmet County yesterday to meet with local party leaders. (He is pictured with ECRP chair Geri Szymanski.) Paul is currently a mechanical engineering student and the Oakland County Republican Party Youth Chair. If elected at the February convention, he hopes to recruit and educate young voters throughout Michigan about “true conservative values through methods they understand.”

The Youth Vice Chair position is currently held by Mike Sullivan, a northwest Michigan native, who has decided not to run for re-election and has endorsed Paul.

*The other candidates are Maryn Setsuda and Ben McLeod.

In the final installment of the immigration series he has written for the Petoskey News-Review, Dr. Lou Zako makes a bold closing argument on behalf of the American people. He writes, “Any government that places the interests of foreigners above those of its own citizens, including those at the bottom of the economic ladder, is not the government I wish for myself, my children, my neighbors.”

Dr. Zako, ECRP vice-chair, is the son of immigrants from the Middle East (Syria). Here is a delightful photo of him and M.J. from their “salad days.”

The new ECRP Executive Committee, elected last night at the Northern Lights Recreation banquet room, will serve a two-year term. The 14 members range from Precinct Delegates in their twenties to one in his eighties and everything in between.

Officers: Geri Szymanski, Chair; Lou Zako, Vice-Chair; Fred Simons, Treasurer, and Carolyn Whittle, Secretary. Other newly-elected members: Jerome Weedman, Nick Collias, Allen Elya, Johnathon Klonowski, Doug Byron, Rusty Chatfield, Robert Igielski, Jenny Nolan, Janet Szymanski, and Stephen Graham. Several county officials also serve on the Committee as at-large delegates who have voting rights.

State Rep. Lee Chatfield has been selected to serve as the new Speaker of the House for the 2019-20 legislative term.

Chatfield, of Levering, said he is eager to get to work as Speaker and build upon the many achievements the Legislature has made over the past four years.

“I am honored to have the support of my colleagues to lead the House next session,” Chatfield said. “It has been a privilege to represent the people of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula for the past four years, and I’m looking forward to giving them an even greater voice at the Capitol in my new role as Speaker.”

At 30 years old, Chatfield will be the youngest Speaker in Michigan’s history and the youngest Speaker actively serving in the country. He is also the first Speaker from Emmet County.

“The Legislature has worked hard to strengthen Michigan’s economy, and we can’t turn back now,” Chatfield said. “It’s our duty to come together and find solutions that continue to improve the lives of Michigan families, seniors, workers and children. I look forward to meeting the challenge and delivering meaningful results.”

First elected in 2014, Chatfield currently serves as speaker pro tempore – the second highest leadership position in the House. He also chairs the House Michigan Competitiveness and Government Operations committees.

ECRP note: Congrats to Lee for this amazing honor!

A note from Chair Dennis Kelly: We should all be very proud and grateful for the overwhelming success of our County’s efforts in the 2018 midterm election.  In every race, Emmet County soundly defeated every attempt the Democrats made against our Republican candidates.

For our State House 107th District, Lee Chatfield received 24,232 votes to Joanne Galloway 16,856 (59% to 41%).  For our State Senate 37th District Wayne Schmidt also clobbered his Democrat opponent by 20,000 votes.  For our U.S. Congressional 1st District, General Jack Bergman thoroughly thumped Matt Morgan by 13 percentage points.  All of our Republican County Commissioner candidates soundly won their positions making it a clean sweep.  Also, both of our neighboring State Reps. Sue Allor and Triston Cole handily won their bids for re-election.  A hearty congratulations to them all!

So, for Emmet County it is clear: “Nobody comes in our house and pushes us around,” Dan Devine, Notre Dame football coach. Campaign 2020 begins … today!

John James, the next U.S. Senator from Michigan, visited Petoskey this weekend. A YUGE crowd turned out at the Perry and gave him a standing ovation for his wonderfully motivational speech. #LetsFly #Army #WeRSmiling #RedTsunami

Dr. Lou Zako has written two columns about immigration for the Petoskey News-Review.

The first one is about comprehensive immigration reform.

The second one is about border security.

Dr. Zako  logically echoes the sentiments of many Americans when he makes this point about the massive crowd of Central Americans traveling from Guatemala to the United States: “Our current refugee laws are a joke, as we watch well-organized ‘caravans,’ consisting primarily of young men, generally well-fed, some waving foreign flags, move steadily toward our southern border. Americans deserve reassurance that those who are admitted as refugees are neither terrorists, gangsters, drug dealers, or simply among the billions of people around the world living in less prosperous countries than the U.S.”

There is still time to set up a line of yard signs on your property – be it on the front lawn, construction site, or place of business.

Stop by the ECRP Victory Center, located across the street from the Bay View Country Club in Petoskey, grab some signs, and make a pro-free speech statement.