Rising conservative GOP star Sharron Angle to speak tonight at event honoring Ronald Reagan

By Verne Strickland / October 27, 2011

Constitutional conservative Sharron Angle of Nevada, who became a GOP icon after almost ousting Harry Reid from his U.S. Senate seat in 2010, is in Wilmington today at the invitation of the New Hanover County Republican Party.

She is slated to headline a sold-out banquet event tonight at the Blockade Runner Beach Resort at Wrightsville Beach.

The reception and dinner honor the late President Ronald Reagan, whose courage, rock-solid conservatism and patriotism won the hearts and minds of millions of Americans -- with the possible exception of Barack Obama, Michelle, Whoopi Goldberg, Stuart Smalley and Joy Behar.

Angle has shown herself to be a confident, capable candidate and force to be reckoned with. While she almost shorted out Senator Reid’s pacemaker, she came across in an early afternoon news conference as positive, thoughtful, focused and engaging. And conservative. I may have already mentioned that.

At the news conference, presided over by Rhonda Amoroso, New Hanover County GOP chairwoman, I asked the prominent visiting Nevadan what advice she might offer to Republican Congressional candidate Ilario Pantano, who is in the midst of a primary battle to win the right to whip incumbent Democrat Mike McIntyre.

Angle: The best advice I can give to anyone who is entering into the public arena is to walk your talk. Don’t just tell us what you’re going to do – but do what you tell us. We’ve become very cynical as voters out here. We’ve heard the smooth talkers, and we’re not buying it anymore. What we want to know is that you will stick to your promises. And your campaign speeches and statements need to reflect the Constitution. 

VS: What are your own political plans going forward?

Angle: At the moment I’m the chairman of Our Voice PAC, and, in fact, if you want to get a copy of my book, “Right Angle, One Woman’s Journey to Reclaim the Constitution,” and you’re not able to come this evening, you can go to our website ourvoicepac.org or sharronangle.com, and you can get a copy of that book. But my goal right now is two-fold – first, to complete what we started with Harry Reid, and that is to remove him from that Senate leadership by doing independent expenditures in four Senate races where we feel like the Democrats are vulnerable. The second goal is to ensure that we have fair and honest elections, so we want integrity in elections – not just in Nevada but across the nation. As the chair of that PAC I can’t run for office, but I could resign as chair and run for office. So what I’m actually saying is that I’m not ruling out any of those options.

                                                    

 **********************

In the news conference, Sharron Angle touched on a range of subjects, such as immigration, honest and transparency in government, the Occupy movement, taxation and jobs. New Hanover County Republican Chairwoman Amoroso said Sharron Angle was sure to be a popular keynoter for the Reagan event because of “her drive, energy, and principles. She is destined to emerge as a leader of national stature.”

www.ncgop.org/county/New-Hanover-county

Redistricting maps cause of concern for New Hanover County party chairs.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster 

By Michelle Saxton  /  Lumina News  Thurs., July 28, 2011

New congressional redistricting maps have been met with bipartisan concern as chairpersons for both New Hanover County’s Democratic and Republican parties have voiced opposition to a proposal that would split the county into two districts.

"(At) the end of the day we care about having somebody represent us here in New Hanover County who understands New Hanover County," county GOP Chairwoman Rhonda Amoroso said Wednesday, July 27. "If this map gets approved we will have to work very hard to make sure we get someone elected who represents our interests here."

Under the congressional redistricting map, downtown Wilmington, parts of New Hanover County and most of Pender County would join the 3^rd District, which stretches north up the eastern coast to Currituck County and is served by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C. 

Most of New Hanover County would remain in the 7^th District served by Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C. The 7^th District would lose most of McIntyre’s home county of Robeson County to the 8^th District and would gain the rest of Sampson County and stretch farther north into Johnston County. 

A congressional district should reflect, to the extent practicable, common interests and not mix coastal and agricultural areas willy-nilly, Amoroso has said. 

New Hanover County Democratic Chairman Alex Hall was concerned about both the congressional map and the proposed state House redistricting map, saying it appeared Republican leaders in the General Assembly were trying to dilute heavily Democratic districts.

"What they’ve done essentially is try to rig the election before the election takes place," Hall said Tuesday, July 26. "It’s offensive to the average citizen out there that thought that his vote counted."

Among proposed changes, state House District 18, which is in the northwestern corner of New Hanover County served by Democrat Rep. Susi Hamilton, would lose parts of downtown Wilmington and gain parts of northeastern Brunswick County.

Some New Hanover County precincts would be split under the new map, Hall said. 

"It’s simply to confuse the voters so they don’t know who they’re voting for," Hall said.

Amoroso said she had not heard any problems with the state House and Senate redistricting maps, and she believed some precincts currently were split.

"It does get a little confusing," Amoroso said. "They have so many constraints, the folks that are drawing these maps, to make sure the lines are drawn fair and legal."

A ripple effect occurred from redistricting changes to the 1^st District, Senate Redistricting Committee Chairman Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, has said, adding that lawmakers also tried to divide urban centers into more than one congressional district. 

"On one hand, is it better to have two congressmen representing your area to fight for your needs in (Washington) D.C. than to have one?" Amoroso said. "But we haven’t had that before."

"If they elect two very influential people … maybe it will help us," Hall said. "But I don’t see it, and it just smacks of gerrymandering."

Each of North Carolina’s 13 congressional districts must have 733,499 people, and lawmakers must address minority-majority districts first under the Voting Rights Act, Amoroso said.

The VRA was enacted to protect minorities’ voting rights from discrimination, but Amoroso said it also can make it challenging to avoid gerrymandering.

"There’s no perfect map for everybody in the state," Amoroso said. "Our interests here down in the coast are going to be different than something up in Johnston County."

Hall agreed, "Our transportation needs in New Hanover County are different than those in Sampson County. The needs of Wilmington are different than those in the rural parts of Brunswick County," he said.

Redrawn maps must be approved by the United States Department of Justice.

Redistricting information is on the General Assembly website: www.ncga.state.nc.us/gis/randr07/redistricting.html.

Fuller, Fulton and Meares seek backing of New Hanover GOP members in Wilmington City Council race.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster  / July 29, 2011


Rhonda Amoroso, chairwoman of New Hanover County Republican Party, reported highlights of the organization's meeting in Wilmington on Thursday, July 28, at the Jungle Rapids conference center:

At our July meeting, we were delighted to have a packed house of Republican faithful -- over 100 in attendance, including many first-timers. This is always gratifying to see.

We discussed some business, but I think the highlight of the session was a series of brief talks by three of our GOP candidates for the Wilmington City Council. Each did a very creditable job, and those in attendance seemed impressed by the presentations.

Two other candidates were also on hand, and will shortly go through our leadership committee vetting process. They will speak at the next monthly meeting. A Republican candidate for Mayor of Wilmington was also on hand, and we will interview him in the near future through our standard vetting process.

Our New Hanover County Republicans are very excited at having such a strong field in the running for Wilmington city offices. We hope and feel that we can get some of our candidates elected, and will work hard to accomplish that.

There's a lot of energy and enthusiasm in our group at this time. Our members are organizing in the neighborhoods and precincts to support the GOP ticket at the local, county, district, state and national levels.

***********

GOP CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES ON THE RECORD

Napier Fuller

Napier Fuller, 37, grew up in Wilmington and attended New Hanover County Schools (Bradley Creek, Roland-Grise, and Hoggard ‘92). Napier Fuller and his wife, Sue Anne, live in historic downtown Wilmington; they have an infant son, Xavier. Fuller attended Washington University in St. Louis (BA, ‘96). He attended graduate school at MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning where he earned a Master of Science degree in City Planning.

He became a Fellow at Dartmouth College’s Regional Technology Center focused on entrepreneurship. After applying for a patent, he worked on a startup in Silicon Valley where he developed new ways to help people search for information on wireless phones.

In 2008, he returned home to work at Atlantic Brokerage, his father’s firm, as a commercial real estate broker. Fuller has a great passion for solving problems related to urban growth and economic development; he will help our city fulfill its potential as one of the best places to live and to work on the East Coast.

Fuller is well qualified to serve on Wilmington's City Council. In recent years, he served on the City of Wilmington’s Tree Commission, City of Wilmington’s Sister City Commission, City of Wilmington's Board of Adjustment, Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors Legislative Affairs Committee, and represented the USA on a six month graduate internship at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium focusing on mobile phone regulation.

He is active in the community: Cape Fear Rotary Club, the Wilmington Roadrunners, the Residents of Old Wilmington, Knights of Columbus, and St. Mary’s Catholic Church.


These are excerpts from an interview with Napier at the New Hanover County GOP session:

The four big issues that we are going to be working on are economic development, traffic and congestion, crime rates, and lower taxes. The most important of those is improving the economy, making it drive again. And, as I mentioned in my speech, the economic development policy is very disjointed in Wilmington. We have a number of different conflicting groups fighting through press releases, and I want very much to be a unifier and develop a powerful strategy so that we can all move forward.

***********

Joshua Fulton

This information is excerpted from Josh's campaign announcement:


Joshua Fulton is a fiscal conservative running for Wilmington City Council.

He believes that keeping wealth in the hands of citizens is key to promoting economic prosperity, and that the city of Wilmington already takes far too much of its citizens' wealth.

Wilmington currently has the 5th highest tax burden of the largest 33 cities in the state. It costs the average citizen over $1000 in taxes and fees to live here every year.

Wilmington's debt has doubled since 2004, and its expenditures have increased by 56%.  If responsibility for water and sewer service hadn't been transferred to the CFPUA, Wilmington's debt and expenditures both would have more than doubled.
 
The current City Council will not change its path.

Whether it's a "municipal services district" tax, longer hours for parking meters, or $1,200 fees for sidewalk cafes, the City Council will simply try to find more creative ways to tax us for their excessive spending.

The city budget can and must be cut.  Joshua Fulton has laid out a plan to show how at least $10M can be eliminated from the budget.

If there's one area of spending that can be increased, it's police services.  FBI statistics currently rank Wilmington as the nation's 97th most dangerous city.  That is far too high for anyone to be comfortable with.  Storm water infrastructure also needs improvement.

If you believe the current City Council is taking us in the wrong direction, and the things just mentioned are important to you, vote for Joshua Fulton in November! 

In remarks at the New Hanover County session on Thursday, July 28, Fulton added these perspectives:

"This year's municipal budget is over four percent higher than last year's. We spent $50 million on a convention center that is going to be in the red according to the city's own numbers. So I'm on a platform of lowering taxes, and reducing spending."

**********

Frank Christopher Meares 

From his campaign Web site:

Frank Christopher Meares was born and raised in Wilmington, NC. He currently works for the American Red Cross. His grandfather was a small business owner - founding 218 Antiques and Armory. His father is a welder and his mother a dental hygienist in Wilmington. His roots in the Wilmington have kept him grounded in his Conservative Republican beliefs. Frank feels that government should be small and local. Not a massive, overarching bureaucracy where the creators and hard-workers are punished.  His motto is "The government should not make people, the people should make the government."

During his high school years, he was involved in teen court and had the opportunity to meet supreme court justices and different legislatures. He also spent time volunteering with the Bellamy Mansion Museum in downtown Wilmington. Since that time, he has become involved with Americans For Prosperity and a GOP presinct chair for Wrightsville Beach. With his experiences and drive he feels that he needs to step up and become part of the Wilmington City Council and truly begin the process of saving the city that he and many others love.

Issues

Rebuilding and maintaining the city’s infrastructure.   

Fiscal responsibility by the city government through proper money management and review.  

Wilmington must become more business friendly so that the free market can do what it does best- creating jobs and promoting growth.

The following is excerpted from Frank's remarks at the GOP meeting:

We are second generation Wilmingtonians, and we have lived in this wonderful city for over 100 years. I've been here for 28 years. During this time, I've seen Wilmington at its height, and at its lowest point, and I think we're close to that low now, with roads that are falling apart, internal water restrictions that are going through the roof, so many issues with our infrastructure that we don't pay attention to.

One of my favorite quotes is from Winston Churchill -- "Courage is what it takes to stand and speak. And also what it takes to sit and listen." We need to sit down with business leaders, with those who want to bring business into Wilmington, and exchange ideas with them. We don't need to burden them with endless regulations. The boards and zoning boards are putting regulations out there that are strangling our economy. This needs to stop.

***********

 Wallace Vanhoy, who chairs the County GOP's candidate development comittee, praised GOP Chairwoman Rhonda Amoroso for her leadership in attracting candidates to the race for important Wilmington City posts:

"I can't say enough about Rhonda. She has attracted growing crowds of energized Republicans who are attending our monthly meetings. And our key elected officials show that they want to participate in our activities. Rick Catlin does a superb job, and I an looking forward to his serving in the General Assembly in the new House seat. Our City Council candidates who spoke tonight impressed the crowd, and I am certain they will wage very strong campaigns for office. We are fortunate to have them in the running."

Contact Rhonda Amoroso    rhonda.gopchair@gmail.com

New Hanover County Republican Party doesn't like latest congressional map version

Verne Strickland Blogmaster

July 25, 2011     

                     

The New Hanover County Republican Party expresses its opposition to Map 2A for Congressional District 7 that was recently proposed by the N.C Legislature’s Redistricting Committee Rucho-Lewis. 

“This new map defies logic and common sense,” says Chairwoman Rhonda Amoroso.  “It reaches too far north to Johnston County and too far west into Hoke County.  Moreover, Map #2A is defective in that it creates Congressional District 3 out of a jigsaw puzzle piece of downtown Wilmington lumping it with part of neighboring Pender County and stretches all the way up north to the Virginia border in Currituck County.  

"This is the kind of distortion that would make Elbridge Gerry blush," she continued.  "We believe that a Congressional District should reflect, to the extent practicable, the commonality of interests of a particular community or geographic region.  To mix coastal and agricultural areas willy nilly to advance some unknown agenda is what we fought against for so many years.”  

The previously proposed map, #1, was well crafted and was indeed a true “coastal district” bound by common interests inherent in our coastal economies, tourism, and beautiful beaches, Amoroso said.  The NHC GOP went on record commending the Committee at the July 7, 2011 Forum for its work in producing Map #1.  

“However, we feel that there has been a ‘Bait and Switch’ with the manipulations incorporated into Map #2A.  This new D7-2A map randomly lumps together inland agricultural areas that have wholly different economies, population densities, and communities that have little, if any, common interests with the residents of New Hanover County.” said Chairwoman Amoroso.

In the interest of fairness and common sense, the NHC GOP strongly urges the Redistricting Committee to go back to the drawing board and produce a Congressional District that reflects the original “coastal district” in proposed map #1. 

The residents of Southeast North Carolina deserve to be represented by a Congressman who understands the issues facing our coastal community here in New Hanover County and that of our coastal neighbors.

Contact with inquiries:  Rhonda K. Amoroso, Chairwoman of the New Hanover County GOP 910-399-2508 or Rhonda.gopchair@gmail.com.

New Hanover GOP Chairwoman Rhonda Amoroso throws down conservative gauntlet

Verne Strickland Blogmaster   July 7, 2011


This is Rhonda Amoroso’s battle cry as Chair of the New Hanover County Republican Party:

“I am a commonsense Constitutional conservative and I believe in limited government, lower taxes, free markets, I’m also a social conservative. I’d like to see this country right itself. We need to stop the spending, and get our fiscal house in order, get the economy back moving, create jobs, and that must be through small business and the private sector. The government, basically in my philosophy, needs to get out of the way.”

This dynamic Wilmington mom is all business when it comes to conservative causes. And she has all the right stuff to make things happen. She told me a bit about herself during a recent interview.

“I have a law degree. I practiced law for many years up in New York, was in private practice, worked for a public utility company, and was an administrative law judge for ten years. We moved to North Carolina four years ago. I’m a Wake Forest University Law School graduate, back in the 80s. I always loved North Carolina, tried to find my way back, and finally got back to stay. Have a daughter halfway through her studies at Carolina, a rising senior in high school, and I’ve raised two other children. They’re grown and live elsewhere.”

Your main motivation seems to be getting fresh faces into the political ring – qualified GOP candidates with something to offer.

“That’s right. We have a leadership development committee. Someone who is interested in running needs to submit  a resume, fill out a long-form questionnaire about why they’re running, and their credentials, and that committee will vet candidates. We’re trying to get quality candidates. The deadline for city council races is July 15, and it’s not just in Wilmington, it also includes the beach councils, and the newly-incorporated area of Castle Hayne. So we are looking for candidates for all those areas, and that’s quite a number of people – town aldermen in Wrightsville Beach, Kure and Carolina Beach. So we’re actively working on that now. 

"We have only eight days until the filing deadline, so we’re really looking for some good folks to step up and run in these races."

From the NHCGOP Website March 13, 2011:

The New Hanover County Republican Party is pleased to announce that Rhonda Amoroso, Esq., was elected to Chair the party for the next two years. Mrs. Amoroso previously held the position of Vice Chair in Charge of Precinct Operations and helped lead the Republican Party to a 75% victory rate in the 2010 elections. 

Also elected by the delegates at the standing room only convention were: First Vice Chair, Joe Rumsey; Vice Chair in Charge of Precinct Operations, John Tullous; Treasurer, Frances Coleman and Secretary, Nancy Brice. The Executive Team will guide the local Republican Party through the next two election cycles.

*** The official website, Rhonda reported, is getting a total facelift with many added features, and will be online soon at http://www.nhcgop.org/index.php 

UPCOMING EVENTS

7/7/11: Redsisticting Forum - ACTION ALERT
7/15/11: Last Day to file for municipal races URGENT
7/25/11: Chairwoman Amoroso on Curtis Wright 8:30am
7/28/11: Pre GOP meeting Twitter Workshop 6pm-6:30pm
7/28/11: Monthly GOP Meeting 6:30pm
8/25/11: Monthly GOP Meeting 6:30pm