Holiday Greetings from State Headquarters

Sitting down to enjoy a rare moment of quiet, my thoughts turned to recent happenings in my short tenure as your party chairman. Let me begin by saying, these last few months have been challenging, educational, and very rewarding. I have concluded that North Dakota’s most valuable resource is her people—people like you who help to make this a great place to live, work, worship and play!

A few highlights as the year 2007 passes into deep winter:
1) Governor Hoeven has announced his candidacy for Governor in the fall. With his enormous popularity and track record of substantial achievement across the board—in business opportunity, energy development and agricultural innovation—we have a tried and true leader at the top of a great ticket for the fall election.
2) The slate of candidates for state office and the legislative seats continues to surprise and delight. From Adam Hamm as Insurance Commissioner to those vying for the open seat on the PSC, and numerous individuals across the state with outstanding potential to enhance the legislature, I can hardly wait for the outcome.
3) With the visit of Presidential hopeful Rudy Guiliani last month followed by the Republican National Chairman, Mike Duncan, it looks as though the Presidential race will continue to be interesting. This gives many of you a rare opportunity to be involved at a national level, if you so choose.
4) The meetings held for the District Chairs in Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, and Bismarck were very well attended. As Executive Director Mike Schatz and I presented material to enable the leaders to carefully plan and effectively finance the upcoming campaigns at the District level, we were very impressed with the level of interest and commitment from these outstanding Republicans.
5) I have been very encouraged by the response to the campaign to raise funds for the “300 in 300” initiative. We have launched a program to send personal notes from District Chairs to potential donors each month. Because of the cooperation of local leaders and the great staff here at headquarters, we have seen a very positive early response.

I would like to close by saying that these last few months have given me hope—hope that excites and motivates me to move into the New Year with energy and enthusiasm for the 2008 election cycle. America is the world’s best hope, because America is made up of people like you. Thank you for the privilege of leading the way into a successful year! Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas and a New Year full of Hope! Gary Emineth Chairman