We’re young, old, students to retirees, coming from all walks of life. We represent the hundreds of voting Republicans who have supported local candidates based on their qualifications and goals, not on party affiliation. Our Coalition is in no way a repudiation of the Republican Party or its ideals. Like most groups of Republicans, we vary on our degree of support for various social issues, but w
e are rock-solid in our core beliefs of fiscal restraint, keeping taxes low, government transparency, proper planning and responsible growth. What unites us locally is the belief that no one party should control all aspects of local government, regardless of the political makeup of Town Council. Membership on the town’s Boards and Committees must be open to all qualified and interested citizens, exclusive of party affiliation. We need to reach out and tap into the wonderful pool of talented and intelligent people who live in McCandless. Local government, more than any other form, is typically about immediate results that directly affect your life. Because of that, in an election, we believe we should support the most qualified candidate who will lead the town in the direction we desire – regardless of party. Local government should be politics at its best – focused on results, not ideology. It’s the government that truly affects us day to day, in our homes, schools – our families, our lives. No matter what party holds a majority, all citizens should be represented, have a voice that is respected, and be able to participate in their own town government. Some History... The McCandless Republican Coalition was founded during the Town Council Primary Election campaigns of 2015 when groups of Republicans throughout McCandless began to take a serious look at their local party. Questions raised by the first Primary challengers in decades led many Republicans to believe there could be an alternative to their local party – an organization which was increasingly isolating its power within a small group of people, who were controlling all facets of local government. That Fall, the Coalition endorsed three candidates for Town Council, two of whom were now on the Democratic ballot, having won the Democratic write-in vote in the Primary. All three candidates were not endorsed by the local Republican party. Our message was straightforward: we would support only those candidates who didn’t believe in excluding their fellow citizens from the committees and boards of local government, based on party, and stood for transparency and responsible development. Hundreds of fellow Republicans across McCandless agreed with us, joining Democrats and Independents to elect all three challengers to Town Council.
