Women lead
Our history is GOP history
Some would say that I’m part of the party establishment. Sure, I’ve been around for a while because I enjoy the work, the partybuilding, the grass-roots efforts, and I believe that what we do is important.
But if you had told me 20 years ago, or even two years ago, that I would be chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA), I may have just laughed in your face. My political “career,” I guess you could call it, began in the mid-1990s when I volunteered on a campaign for the first time.
I was later elected to represent the state party as national committeewoman, a role in which I loved serving. That job got me around the state working with county committees, Republican Women clubs, and the Republican National Committee in D.C. It was truly a pleasure to do the hard work of party-building that I had come to love.
But then, I was approached two years ago to run for chairman since our longtime servant Doyle Webb was finishing his term. To be honest, this was a decision I wrestled with and prayed over, but eventually, I knew that I must surrender to the call.
I am extremely grateful that our state committee saw me fit to lead and to continue the hard work of those who have come before me. In the month of March, I’m especially reminded of those female party builders who have put in the work over the decades to ensure that we became the party in power.
I am only the fourth woman to serve as state party chairman, following Jerri Pruden, Sharon Trusty, and Phyllis Kincannon. Jerri served as interim chairman when her predecessor, Lynn Lowe, filed to run as a Republican for governor. Sharon served as a co-chairman with Len Blaylock from 1985 to 1986 when Bill Kelly resigned as chairman. And Phyllis Kincannon was first vice chair of the party when now-Gov. Asa Hutchinson resigned to run for Congress. Aside from her brief tenure as chairman, she proved herself a lifelong party-builder, even designing and donating the funds for the famous “Freedom Rings” chandelier in the lobby of party headquarters.
I can’t ignore the work done by the Arkansas Federation of Republican Women (AFRW) since its founding in 1948. Beginning with only 10 founding clubs in Baxter, Boone, Clark, Faulkner, Garland, Hot Spring, Pulaski, Searcy, Union, and Washington counties, it took the AFRW seven years to become nationally recognized by the national federation. But in 1955, AFRW was noted as one of the most advanced state organizations in the national federation.
Did you know that the Republican Party pioneered the right of women to vote? And that it was the first major party to advocate equal rights for women? Did you know that after several failed attempts to pass the Equal Suffrage Amendment in Congress, it was finally passed in 1919 when Republicans regained control? Arkansas became the 12th state in the nation to pass the 19th Amendment, with an all-male state Legislature.
But we no longer have to say “the future is female.” Thank God, the present is. Four of the five staff members at the RPA are women. All but three elected members of the RPA Executive Committee are female, and one-third of our county committee chairmen are also women. More women than ever are running for office. In Arkansas, women build county committees, lobby the Legislature, elect and recruit candidates. They are not quiet. They are not weak. They are not followers. Republican women do it all.
Our own Julie Harris said it best, “For want of a Republican woman, a volunteer was lost. For want of a volunteer, a campaign was lost. For want of a campaign, an election was lost. For want of an election, a conservative office was lost. For want of a conservative, the state was lost. And all for the want of a Republican woman.”
I am proud to follow in the footsteps of women who chose to serve, and I can only hope to be worthy of the legacy that they have left for us. In Arkansas, women’s history is Republican history. We have been and always will be the Party of Women. I’m proud to be a Republican woman, and if you are, I invite you to join us.