Republican Party of the District of Columbia

Republican Party of the District of Columbia
Basic facts
Location:	Washington, D.C.
Type:	Political party
Affiliation:	Republican
Top official:	Patrick Mara, Chairman
Year founded:	1855
Website:	Official website

The Republican Party of the District of Columbia is the Washington, D.C., political party affiliate of the national Republican Party. The group is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Background

The Republican Party of the District of Columbia was founded by a group of abolitionists on June 19, 1855, as the Republican Association of Washington. Lewis Clephane, editor of the abolitionist newspaper National Era, served as the party's first chairman. Following the first national Republican Party convention in 1856, the party changed its name to the Republican Party of the District of Columbia.

According to a March 2016 report by the District of Columbia Board of Elections, 27,094 registered Washington, D.C., voters identified as Republican. Registered Republican voters amounted to 6.29 percent of total registered Washington, D.C., voters.

Platform

The party's stated platform is composed of eight main issues:

• Give D.C. the vote
  "As the party representing the District, these are the policies and issue positions DCRP supports in connection with obtaining Federal voting representation for the capital city of the world’s most powerful, democratically elected nation in the world, as well as those related to other matters concerning the rights of DC citizens to raise and spend money as they determine, to adopt and enforce local laws as they see fit, and related matters."
• Economic growth and opportunity
  "Urban areas have historically been the engines of economic growth for the U.S. economy, yet today they are stifled by high taxes, over­regulation, and the influence of special interests."
• Education
  "Decisions regarding the education of children properly belong to parents and guardians. Governments should promote educational alternatives for students and parents, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, private, independent, and parochial schools, and home schooling — including single­-sex education options."
• Civil and religious liberty
  "We support amending Federal civil rights laws to include sexual orientation, marital status, and gender identity among the categories of those protected against discrimination by employers or in housing."
• Housing
  "Encourage Federal, state and local low­-income housing programs which promote affordable housing by maintaining economic diversity, which in turn enables employees to live nearer where they work and with their families."
• Health and human services
  "Enhance individual options for affordable healthcare by allowing its purchase across state lines and making health insurance portable for the individual, regardless of place of employment."
• Public safety, homeland security, and emergency preparedness
  "The DCRP supports increased Federal funding and expanded public education to combat cybersecurity threats and to reduce the vulnerability of the power grid to cyber-attacks by terrorists or others."
• Transportation
  "We support working with the Federal government and neighboring jurisdictions to finish the Metrorail extension to Loudon County, Virginia, to establish a permanent funding source for Washington Metropolitan Transportation Authority operations, and to greatly improve WMATA’s safety and efficiency record."

Rules and bylaws

Candidate ballot access
Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

See also: Rules of the Republican Party of the District of Columbia

The state party is governed by a set of rules and bylaws. Typically, these give structure to the different levels of organization—local, county, and state committees—and establish protocol for electing committee members. The bylaws also typically give details on the party's process for nominating and sending delegates to the national party convention during presidential elections. The following is a summary of the Republican Party of the District of Columbia's rules. This summary focuses on the structure and governance of the party:

• Elected party officers include the chairman, first vice chairman, vice chairman for political affairs, vice chairman for membership, secretary, and treasurer. The party chairman may appoint additional party officers if necessary.
• Party officers are elected to serve two-year terms. The party chairman determines the tenure of appointed party officers.
• The party's executive committee holds a minimum of four meetings each year on a quarterly basis. Additional meetings may be called by the party chairman.

Convention

The date of the 2016 convention for the Republican Party of the District of Columbia, when the party selected its delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention, was March 12, 2016.

Leadership

The executive director of the Republican Party of the District of Columbia (DC GOP) is Patrick Mara.

The following individuals hold leadership positions with the DC GOP:

• Patrick Mara, Chairman
• José Cunningham, National committeeman
• Ashley MacLeay, National committeewoman

Recent news

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See also

• Washington, D.C.
• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Washington, D.C.

External links

• Republican Party of the District of Columbia homepage
• Republican Party of the District of Columbia on Facebook
• Republican Party of the District of Columbia on Twitter