Our Buncombe County Republican Convention will be held the morning and afternoon of March 7th. Further plans will be announced as we near that date but we tentatively plan to handle county GOP business in the morning with some training and/or speakers in the afternoon.

Then, in the evening, we will have our annual Lincoln Day Dinner with reception beforehand. We are working on getting exciting and dynamic speakers for this event. More to come, so stay tuned for more information!

The following message was sent out by the NCGOP. They said it well, so we are passing along this message of appreciation and rememberance.

On November 11th of each year, the country pauses to remember the sacrifices and dedication of those who have fought to safeguard our freedoms. November 11th was first celebrated as Armistice Day commemorating the anniversary of the signing of the armistice to end World War I. On November 11, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed the first Veterans Day writing as part of his proclamation that, “On that day let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.” As a nation at war, it is as important now as ever to respect the honor and bravery of those who have served in the military in the past as well as those who are currently in harm’s way on our behalf in the cause of liberty across the world. What they do each day on our behalf is difficult; what we must do is simple. Remember.

Thank a veteran today!

A group of Republicans in Western North Carolina aren’t wasting any time in getting their pick on the ballot for the 2012 Presidential race. A new website, www.draftpalinforpresident.com was featured on WLOS as the lead story today. Check it out below.

The Buncombe County Republican Party Executive Committee congratulates Mark Crawford on his election to the Buncombe County School Board to represent the Owen District. We are pleased that he is willing and able to serve as a conservative voice on the School Board. Mark has been a strong voice for conservative principles and an active participant in our community.

The Executive Committee also sends its sincere thanks to Nathan Ramsey, for serving as our County Chairman for 8 years. Nathan has been a devoted servant of the people; always accessible to answer questions and offer guidance, and always seeking to make the best decisions for all the people of Buncombe County. We are disappointed that he will not be serving another term, but look forward to working with Nathan and his wife to address the needs of our community and to help strengthen our local Republican Party.

We also thank all of our County candidates: John Carroll, Don Yelton, Ron McKee, Mike Fryar, Tim Moffitt, Paul Purdue, RL Clark, and Kevin Dodsen. We have been proud to support such a fine slate of candidates and will do so again should they decide to run for election to public office in the future. Our 11th District Congressional candidate, Dr. Carl Mumpower, also earned our respect and admiration for his “Principles First” campaign, which reminded us all of why we are Republicans and what the party stands for. We are proud to have him continue to serve with fellow Republican Bill Russell representing our principles on the Asheville City Council.

Once again, thank you to the volunteers who worked so hard over the past several months. The election is over but our work is not. We will be carrying forward the lessons learned during this election and working toward a positive and successful future.

In case you thought it was all bad news, the NCGOP released the following positive news for Republicans:

Yesterday, North Carolina Republicans maintained five seats in the U.S. House. North Carolinians re-elected Steve Troxler and Cherie Berry to the Council of State. Debbie Clary appears to have won the open Senate seat in N.C. Senate District 46 as Republicans picked up one seat in the N.C. Senate. North Carolina Republicans also held the line in the N.C. House and it appears that we will send the first African American Republican to the N.C. House as Pearl Burris Floyd appears to have won N.C. House District 110. Conservative N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Edmunds earned re-election. Bob N. Hunter also earned election to the N.C. Court of Appeals.

On behalf of the Buncombe County Republican Party Executive Committee, we sincerely thank all of our energetic and dedicated volunteers for your hard work over the last many months and especially in the weeks leading up to the election. Even though the election results were not what we had hoped for, we can still hold our heads up high and with much pride in how we acted, supported our candidates, and demonstrated our commitment to our fundamental principles. Our candidates ran positive campaigns. Our volunteers and supporters showed dignity and respect to others all along the campaign trail. We fought hard but always tried to keep it fun at the same time.

This is not the time to get discouraged. Instead, we need to be even more vigilant. Not only must we guard against liberal policies of the Democrats, but we must also hold our Republican officials accountable to our party’s principles. We encourage all Republicans to stay engaged in politics so that we may be a strong, clear voice for conservative principles in our community.

With much reservation, we must now acknowledge and congratulate the Democrats on their victory. The Obama campaign and the Democratic Party ran a highly effective and energetic “get out the vote” campaign, and clearly their efforts paid off.

This was truly an historic election on many levels, but it is only one election. We have many future elections to win. Our work as a party does not end now that November 4, 2008 has passed. We will take some time to rest and reflect on what has occurred nationally, in the state of North Carolina, and in Buncombe County, and then get back to work to continue rebuilding an even stronger Republican Party.

For a detailed view of the Buncombe County election results, click this link or the image at the top right corner of each page of this website. Make sure to take a look at the Voter Turnout tab to get a sense of where we need to focus more attention in future elections.

The Mountain Xpress published a good story on the vandalism of a Republican billboard, put up by The Action Club of Buncombe County.

At a press conference today, Buncombe County Republican officials and activists criticized the defacing of a “Vote Republican” billboard, which was spray-painted with “Drop bombs on families!!!?”

The billboard, at the intersection of Patton and Clingman avenues in downtown Asheville, originally read “Change the Culture of Corruption in N.C.” above a checked box stating “Vote Republican.” It was paid for by the Buncombe County Republican Action Club. Kathy Lack, the club’s chair, said the vandalism constituted an attack on free speech and was emblematic of the Democratic Party.

“This billboard was put up by the Buncombe County Republican Action Club to express a political opinion, and today our right to free speech was stolen,” Lack said. “It appears that the Democrat Party doesn’t believe the Republicans have the right to free speech.

“Really, what do we expect? The Democrat Party has been in power in North Carolina for over 100 years and they’ve done that through controlling the right to free speech. They use scare tactics to keep from saying things not in line with what they want. It’s common knowledge that people who want government jobs need to be a Democrat or at least pretend to be a Democrat,” Lack continued. “We put this billboard up with our own money, and they stole it for their use — they basically took away our right. Are those the kind of people we want to keep sending back to Raleigh and put in government positions?”

She took issue with the content of the spray-painted message, noting that the billboard was aimed at “state government, which has nothing to do whatsoever with the war.”

Read the full story at Mountain Xpress.