St. Lucie Republicans Form Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl For Kids Sake Team

St. Lucie County Republicans* have organized a team at Big Brothers Big Sisters annual Bowl For Kids Sake Fundraiser. Big Brothers Big Sisters is a mentoring organization that provides children facing adversity with supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better.
The Republican team will be bowling at SuperPlay, 1600 NW Courtyard Cir, Port St Lucie, FL from 1 – 2:30 PM.
The team, who have each made their $35 donation from their own funds, consists of:
Sasha Bonna
Rebecca Isaac
Alicia Ramsdell
James Taylor
If you would like to come out and support the team, or would like to support this event by making a contribution to Big Brothers Big Sisters, please give me a call at 407.952.9006.
Having been a “little brother” in the program growing up, and today serving on their corporate board and as a “big brother” myself, it’s an organization that’s near and dear to my heart and to so many in the community.
I sincerely thank all the St. Lucie Republicans who have stepped forward personally to support this event.
Anthony Bonna
State Committeeman
St. Lucie County Republican Party
* Use of the name Republican has been approved by the Republican Party of Florida in accordance with rule 1.

Upcoming RPOF & Local Events

Support Brian Mast at Local Town Hall Meetings This Thursday
 
A reminder to come out and support Congressman Brian Mast at one of these local events. Organized and often paid protestors travel around from event to event – it’s up to us to support Congressman Mast and ask positive questions relevant to our district.
Here are some resources forwarded along by REC member Kathleen O’Brien that may be helpful if you plan on attending.
St. Lucie County: 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM, PSL Community Center, 2195 SE Airoso Blvd, PSL

Palm Beach County: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM, Jupiter Community Center, 200 Military Trail, Jupiter
Martin County: 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM, The Grace Place, 1550 SE Salerno Rd., Stuart, FL
The congressman’s office is requesting that you RSVP here.

America First Rally – Saturday, September 9

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
The intersection of Port St Lucie Blvd and Westmoreland Blvd.
Let’s come out and support President Trump at this local sign-waving event.
RPOF Statesman’s Dinner & Winter Quarterly Meeting – Nov. 2-3
 

The Statesman’s Dinner will take place on November 2nd at the Grand Floridian in Orlando.

Tickets can be bought here: https://secure.anedot.com/florida-gop/statesmans2017. This is always a great event – last year’s Speaker was Mike Pence.
The quarterly meeting will take place the next day on November 3rd and will also be at the Grand Floridian.
RPOF Annual Meeting – January 5-6
 

The RPOF Annual Meeting will take place on January 5th & 6th at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando.  To book a room, please call 1-800-204-7234.

5/1/17 Report

Fellow Republicans and Committee Members –
Please find my post-quarterly meeting report below.
 
1. Voter Registration Training: We will be holding a voter registration training on Tuesday, May 2nd, 6:30 PM at the Treasure Coast Builders Association (where REC meetings are normally held).
This opportunity is open to all members of the St. Lucie County Republican Executive Committee – so please consider attending even if you did not sign up for the voter registration committee. This event is being offered in conjunction with the Republican Party of Florida as a part of Project Majority Red. Our RPOF Regional Director, Nilsa Alvarez, will be conducting the training.
Thank you to everyone who has already responded that you are attending.
2. Republican Party of FL Quarterly: This past weekend the Republican Party of Florida held their first quarterly meeting of the year.
Seminars I attended included:
The Dos and Dont’s of Registering New Voters: Statewide voter gap is 297,089. The goal of Project Majority Red is to have more Republicans than Democrats in Florida We are going to close this gap precinct by precinct. Our St. Lucie County REC was recognized as a 3rd Party Voter registration committee in good standing. In terms of registering voters, the statute to be familiar with is 104.012. We will cover this in more detail at Tuesday’s training and in future activities of the voter registration committee.
Building a Winning Budget: You can view the presentation here [link omitted for web]. The big takeaway is we need to raise $11,000 to fully cover our absentee ballot chase – not accounting for any overhead expense.
How to Organize a Lincoln Day Dinner: One idea I liked was instituting an “REC Bucks” program to reward individuals who take an active role in selling tickets and ads. I will talk more about this with Mary Ann. I have also forwarded her the presentation.
Other seminars I attended included:  How to run an effective REC meeting, Media Training: What You Need To Know, How to Win Non-Partisan Elections, and Using Social Media as a Political Tool. I also attended the minority engagement committee where I spoke about the importance of being present and our State Committeemen/women caucus where I spoke about the Digital Engagement Committee’s plans to create best practices for management/ownership of digital assets.
The training seminars were very informative and are open to all of you as well – so I highly recommend that you attend if you are able. Our next quarterly meeting will be Friday, August 11 and Saturday, August 12 at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando. You can book a room by calling 1-866-996-6338 and asking for the Republican Party of Florida book of rooms.
 
3. Digital Engagement Committee: I am excited to chair the digital engagement committee with my friend Jesse Phillips from Seminole County.
At our meeting we took the following actions:
– We will be sending a digital audit/survey to the Chairman, State Committeeman, and State Committeewoman in each of the 67 counties
– We created a subcommittee to work on best practices for Facebook, Websites, Twitter, Email, Google Advertising, and management/ownership of digital assets.
– We will be offering digital training in specific counties with partners and other committee members.
 
4. Republican Headquarters: A special thanks to Leigh and June Lamson for getting our headquarters in order. A special thanks to Mike Loeb and Charles Le Gall for all your work in the headquarters as well and to everyone who has signed up for a shift.
5. Lincoln Day Dinner: Our Lincoln Day Dinner will be held on July 15, 2017. Please encourage everyone you know to purchase tickets at www.lincolnday.org.
6. Next Board Meeting & REC Meeting: The steering committee will meet this Saturday, May 6 at 10 AM at our Republican Headquarters. Our REC will meet Tuesday, May 9th at 6:30 PM at the Treasure Coast Builders Association.
7. Legislative Session: Please pray for our Governor and legislators as they enter the final week of legislative session. A special thank you to Senate President Negron and Representatives Harrell, Grall, and Pigman for their hard work representing St. Lucie County with conservative principles.

2/27/17 Report

Fellow Republicans and Committee Members –
The Republican Party of Florida had a conference call for members of the State Committee tonight and I wanted to take the opportunity to update you on the items discussed on that call as well as some other things that are happening locally. If you have any questions, or need clarification on anything in this email, please feel free to call me at 772.237.0984 or send me an email.
1. Next REC Meeting is Tuesday, March 7 at 6:30 PM: We will be conducting elections to fill vacancies for the offices of Vice Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer. Those members who attended our February 1st meeting and completed a candidate oath and loyalty oath will be eligible to run for these positions and vote.
The meeting will take place at the Treasure Coast Builders Association located on US1, located just north of Norris’s and the Draft House. I encourage all members to attend to participate in our election.
If you are considering joining the committee, please attend this meeting as we are still in a period of open enrollment. You will be able to join the committee that night, but will not have voting privileges until the next day. I have attached the candidate oath and loyalty oath if you would like to complete your paperwork in advance.
2. Vice Mayor Shannon Martin Switches From Democrat to Republican: A warm welcome to the Republican Party’s Newest Member. The city of Port St. Lucie, the 8th largest city in the state of Florida, now has zero elected Democrats on the city council. RPOF Chairman Blaise Ingoglia gave St. Lucie County and Shannon a shout out on the conference call – when he announced several other elected officials across the state who made the switch. We are looking forward to working with Shannon and anyone willing to embrace conservative Republican principles.
 
3. Digital Engagement Committee Co-Chair Appointment: I am excited to be appointed Co-Chair of the Republican Party of Florida Digital Engagement Committee. I will be serving with my friend Jesse Phillips, the State Committeeman from Seminole County.  The purpose of the Digital Engagement Committee is to educate and inform the State Executive Committee on how best to utilize technology, social media, digital ads, email, data acquisition, voter databases, video, etc…for party messaging, micro-targeting, and GOTV efforts. We look forward to equipping party leaders to use the internet to paint Florida red.
 
4. Florida Right to Life PAC Appointment: Florida Right to Life Board Chairman appointed me to serve on Florida Right To Life’s PAC. I will be responsible for helping to vet candidates for state and federal office, as well as efforts to advance Florida Right to Life’s legislative agenda.
 

5. St. Lucie County Fair Is Underway: The St. Lucie County Fair began on Friday, February 24th and will run until Sunday, March 5th. We have had lots of foot traffic and collected dozens of email addresses, as well as new TARS and Lipstick Republicans. A special thank you to Mary Anne Russell, Bob Golding, the Peith family, and the Cox family for helping with setup. We still need additional volunteers for breakdown on Sunday, March 5. Please let me know if you are able to help (we already have a truck).

I have attached some photos from our booth this week. A sincere thank you to everyone who has helped with this effort in any way. If you plan on attending the fair, comeby and say hello!

6. Spirit of America Rally This Weekend March 4: The sign-waving event will take place at the intersection of US-1 and Port St. Lucie Blvd from 3:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Please feel free to bring American flags or Trump signs. Signs and bottled water will be available for those who need it. A huge thanks to SLC Trump Chair Kelly Ruiz for organizing and to YOU for your participation.
 
7. Lincoln Day Dinner Planning Meeting: There will be a meeting of the Lincoln Day Dinner Planning Committee this Wednesday, March 1st at 7:00 P.M. The meeting will take place at Republican Headquarters, 6835 S US1, Port St. Lucie, FL. This meeting should only last about 30 – 45 minutes. Please contact committee chairman Mary Anne Russell at marussell434@gmail.com if you are interested in attending.
8. Congressman Brian Mast Veterans Town Hall Meeting: I attended Congressman Brian Mast’s Townhall meeting this past Friday and I can only say I am very proud that Brian Mast is our Congressman. He was completely disarming. He is patient, well-spoken, and honest. He stayed until everyone’s question could be heard. We are lucky to have a true representative of the people who cares what YOU think.
 
9. RPOF Hires Director of Party Development: Brooke Renney is the newest member of the Republican Party of Florida staff.  Brooke will serve as the Director of Party Development.  She will be given a number of different responsibilities, but she will also serve as another contact and resource for the members of the State Executive Committee.
10. Next Republican Party of Florida Quarterly: The RPOF Spring Quarterly Meeting will be held on April 28th and 29th at the DoubleTree Tampa Airport – Westshore.
The special room rate will be available until March 28th or until the group block is sold-out (whichever comes first).  Click here to book your room. You can also book your room by calling the hotel directly at 813-879-4800 or the reservations line at 1-800-445-8667.
11. Project Majority Red: The RPOF will be proactively and aggressively working on closing the voter registration gap in Florida. This will include Church Drives, voter drives at community events, recruiting conservative elected officials to switch parties, etc. More on this exciting initiative to come.

12/1/16 Report

Fellow REC Members, Conservatives, and Friends,

I hope each of you had a Happy Thanksgiving and were able to spend time with family and friends. There is so much to be thankful for, especially our family, our faith, our freedom, and our prosperity. In particular, as Republicans we can be thankful for important victories at the federal, state, and local level. The results of this election preserved the principles and institutions that make America the greatest nation on earth and I am thankful for everything you have done to be a part of that effort.
Today is December 1 and it is the day I officially begin my term as your Republican State Committeeman. I am immensely thankful to the over 9,000 St. Lucie County Republicans who expressed their confidence in me in the August Primary. Regardless of whether you voted for me or not, I can assure you I am 100% committed to growing our party and I will work hard to earn your trust over the next four years.
As I begin my term, I wanted to update you on several items and goals I would like our Republican team to accomplish as we enter the coming year:

1. St. Lucie County Election Results 2016

 

Congratulations to our all of our Republican candidates for running strong campaigns. Every Republican who ran, especially those who ran in our partisan races, played an important part of getting our Republican message out and your candidacy made our party stronger. Thank you!
Here is a breakdown of some of the results and my notes:
President: Donald J. Trump became the first Republican Presidential candidate to win in St. Lucie County since George H.W. Bush won in 1992. Turning St. Lucie County red again is a huge victory and you should all be proud of everything you committed to this effort.
US Senate: Marco Rubio easily sent Patrick Murphy into retirement with a strong re-election campaign. Despite the fact that Murphy represented the Treasure Coast in Congress, Senator Rubio was able to hold Congressman Murphy under 50% and come within 2.5% of winning St. Lucie County.
US Congress: Not only do we have a new Republican Congressman, Brian Mast also won St. Lucie County. Brian is not just solid on the issues – he has already proven to be very committed to our area. His personal story inspires many and he is sure to be a rock star in Congress.
State Senate 25: Joe Negron easily won re-election to another term in the State Senate. Joe’s election to the Senate Presidency will greatly benefit the Treasure Coast and the entire state of Florida.
State House: Gayle Harrell won a hard-fought re-election very comfortably. This is a great win for the Treasure Coast as Gayle will be able to leverage her experience and position in the majority to benefit all of us. Rep. Erin Grall also won a seat representing the northern portion of St. Lucie County. Democratic Rep. Larry Lee went unchallenged and was re-elected without opposition.
City Council: I recently was able to attend the swearing in ceremony for our new Republican majority on the Port St. Lucie City Council. Congratulations to Jolien Caraballo, John Carvelli, and Stephanie Morgan on your big wins. Jeremiah Johnson also had a great win in the city of Fort Pierce – winning the seat outright in the primary election and avoiding a race in November. I look forward to working with all of you.
Judicial Races: As many of you know, I was a passionate supporter of Ed Alonzo for county court Judge hosting a fundraiser for him in the primary and managing his direct mail effort. Alonzo was able to achieve a comfortable win (about a 3,750 vote margin out of about 43,096 votes cast) against a seated incumbent judge. In the circuit race, we had a field that was an embarrassment of riches. Michael McNicholas worked very hard and he won the election. Voters also rightly chose to keep Judge McCann. Congratulations to all!
School Board: It was obvious from the results of these races that there is a very real appetite for change. Although both incumbents won re-election, in particular, Jennifer Richardson put up a very strong challenge to long-time incumbent Katherine Hensley. Richardson came within 382 votes of a huge victory.
Constitutional & County Offices: Howard Fein and Bobby Hopkins were two of the hardest-working Republican candidates I have ever seen. Thanks to both of you for having the courage to put your name on the ballot and carry the Republican banner.
On a personal note, my wife and I were pleased to support 16 strong candidates financially this year, with contributions totaling $1,165 at all levels from US Congress to City Council. Over 81% of them won their election to office. Our contribution to each campaign was small, averaging about $73. Just a reminder that no matter how much you can give – chipping in what you can and showing support as much as you can is the important thing.
2. The December Organizational Meeting: 
Our organizational meeting will be held on December 6th, 2016, at the Treasure Coast Builders Association at 6:30 P.M. A reminder that this month’s meeting is on the first Tuesday of the month rather than the second.
Many have asked questions about how the December organizational meeting will operate.
Per the constitution, the meeting will be called to order and the first order of business will be to elect a Chairman. Only those members who had previously filed their paperwork with the Supervisor of Elections and have been officially elected are eligible will be eligible to serve as Chairman and will be eligible to vote. The results are final and are not subject to recall. After the election of officers, we can begin conducting other business.
See below for the guidelines regarding the organizational meeting from our County Constitution for your reference:
ARTICLE IV: Organizational Meeting and Election of Officers
 
Section 1 – The outgoing chairman of the Republican County Executive Committee shall, within thirty (30) days after the committee members take office (December 1), call an organizational meeting for the purpose of electing officers. It shall be the responsibility of the outgoing chairman to open the meeting, and the first order of business shall be the election of the chairman and vice-chairman as set forth in the rules and bylaws as promulgated by the State Executive Committee. Thereafter, the new chairman shall preside, and the agenda shall include, but not limited to, the election of a secretary and a treasurer, the filing of any vacancies on the committee, and any other business which may appropriately come before the committee.
 
The above officers shall be members of the County Executive Committee, and all county party officers shall be elected for a two year term. At the conclusion of each two year term officers shall be elected in the same manner as is required at the organizational meeting. Officer elections held at the organizational meetings are final and are not subject to recall.
I know that regardless of the election results, we can come together to advance conservative principles and paint St. Lucie County red.
3. Republican Party of Florida October 2016 Quarterly Meeting
 
My wife & I attended the Republican Party of Florida’s Quarterly meeting and Statesman’s dinner October 14th and 15th. I had the opportunity to attend several engaging sessions:
  • Faith-Based Engagement Committee: The group discussed strategies for engaging pastors in the 2016 election. It was pointed out that pastors have not only the right, but the responsibility, to instruct church members on applying Christian principles in the voting booth. I plan to remain active with this committee and focus on Church voter registration efforts in the coming year.
  • Digital Engagement Committee: The Chairman of our State Committeemen and Women caucus gave a great presentation about how to leverage social media for our REC. I’d like to begin implementing a lot of what was in his presentation at the local level.One idea in particular that I thought was brilliant involved the distribution of voter guides. In Sarasota County, rather than mailing out a printed voter guide to targeted households here is what they do. The Executive Committee agrees on recommendations for candidates in all races (they include judicial, but I want additional clarification from RPOF legal before recommending that) and all amendments or referendums. The nonpartisan races, amendments and referendums are among the top reasons the voter guide is relevant. The party then uploads a list of Republican super-voters to Facebook and runs lead generation ads to the voters on that list. In order to view the sample ballot, voters have to provide their email address. In addition to communicating the Republican choices to the most likely voters, the Sarasota digital program costs less money than a mailed ballot and helps them grow their email list – emails that can be used for fundraising, future digital advertising, and boosting attendance at events.
  • Southeast Florida Caucus: There was not much business conducted at this meeting, but it was a great opportunity to meet with fellow committee members from our area and spend time with National Committeewoman Sharon Day.
  • State Committeemen and Women Caucus Meeting: I was able to attend the meeting and meet with many of my long-time friends and associates who were elected to the committee across the state. As far as discussion, we talked through a nuanced loyalty oath issue and some minor changes to bylaws. We also had some fun with the press in the room, chanting support for Donald Trump so loudly it could be heard in the Chairman’s caucus.
  • Meeting with Chairman Ingoglia: Chairman Blaise Ingolgia held a meeting of all newly-elected State Committeemen and State Committeewomen. A little more than half a dozen of us attended as the Chairman explained how the RPOF works and our responsibilities as committee members.
  • Direct Mail for Fundraising Dollars: A great presentation on how to raise money by sending letters to our prospecting/donor list. In the first part of the year, I look forward to working with other members of REC leadership to explore putting together a pilot direct mail fundraising campaign.
  • Trump Campaign Update: We received an update from Chairman Ingolgia and Deborah Cox Roush about the final three weeks of the campaign and what we could do to help.
  • Statesman’s Dinner: A very nice evening in support of the Republican Party of Florida. Enjoyed inspiring talks from Senator Marco Rubio and Vice President-Elect Mike Pence.
4. Republican Party of Florida January 2016 Quarterly Meeting
 
This is a reminder that the Republican Party of Florida will be holding their annual meeting on January 13th and 14th at the Rosen Centre in Orlando. I’d like to encourage you all to attend!
Elections for RPOF officers, including State Party chairman, will take place there and the annual meeting is almost always one of the best opportunities to engage with fellow Republicans across the state.

To book your hotel room today, please go to the following link for State Executive Committee and Republican Executive Committee members: https://bookings.ihotelier.com/Rosen-Centre/bookings.jsp?themeId=19340&groupID=1683160&hotelID=2018 or call 800-204-7234 and ask for the RPOF group rate.  Rooms are $139+tax a night.

The group rate is available until December 13th.

 
Please let me know if you are interested in attending so we can coordinate. I will be in touch with any additional information about the meeting agenda as I receive it.
5. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Election
 
At the upcoming Republican Party of Florida quarterly meeting, there will be an election for Chairman and other party officers. There are two leading contenders for the post: current Chairman Rep. Blaise Ingoglia and Christian Ziegler – the Chairman of the State Committeemen and Committeewomen. Both are great candidates and our party is in good hands with either of them.
Christian Ziegler has been a very effective Chairman of the State Committeemen and Committeewomen’s caucus. I came to know Christian during my campaign for state committeeman, where I quickly saw what a resource he was to both me and the existing State Committee members. Christian always makes himself available to answer any questions. If he doesn’t know the answer, he finds the answer or connects you with the right person. Christian was an early and enthusiastic supporter of President-elect Trump and has great ideas to leverage things like digital to grow our party.
It was a tough decision, but I have personally committed to supporting our current Chairman, Blaise Ingoglia in the election. Blaise has been a very effective Chairman of our party. The training sessions at the RPOF quarterly were informative and he has also been a very helpful resource. Blaise made a promise to make Florida red again, he united the party, and he delivered.
6. Florida Right to Life
 
If you are interested in receiving The Life Pulse, a local pro-life newsletter, please send me an email and I will make sure you receive this weekly publication.
I attended the Florida Right to Life Board Meeting at Winter Park’s St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in October where there was much discussion on the 2016 election and our efforts to elect pro-life candidates. It was noted the PAC had great success in the primary. 70% of supported US House candidates, 100% of supported State Senate candidates, and 60% of supported State House candidates won their primaries.
The next Florida Right to Life Board Meeting is Saturday, February 18, 2017 at 10:00 AM at Calvary Assembly Church in Winter Park, FL.
 
7. Lincoln Day Dinner
With uncertainty about will be leading the local party as Chairman, I have begun working to secure a Lincoln Day Dinner Speaker for 2017 and have secured a soft commitment. I cannot provide any additional details at this time, but if this does come through, it’s going to take all of us working together to ensure a successful event. More details in the coming months as it is critical we hold this important fundraiser this year. Please let me know if you would like to get involved on the planning committee.
 
8. Inauguration Tickets 
 
If you are interested in attending President-Elect Trump’s inauguration in January, Senator Rubio’s office will be receiving a limited number of tickets and is holding a blind lottery to disburse the tickets. Submit your information here before December 31sthttps://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/inauguration-tickets
I will make you aware of any other opportunities I become aware of to apply for tickets.
9. Councilwoman Michelle Berger Retirement Party
I had the opportunity to attend outgoing Republican City Councilwoman Michelle Berger’s retirement party on Sunday, November 20th. Thank you to Michelle for 12 years of service to the city of Port St. Lucie.
10. REC Website
 
I will be proposing at an upcoming REC meeting, either December or January, that we begin working on a new REC website. I am hopeful we can find a company that is willing to do this in-kind or at a very low cost. It’s critical that our new website has the a fresh modern look that allows people to contribute online, facilitates email list growth, includes re-marketing opportunities, and features our candidates and elected officials. Please let me know if you have any ideas for moving this process along or if there are any features you would like included.
11. Midterm Elections
There are very important elections coming up in the midterm and we must already be focused on winning if we are to achieve victory.
Here’s a preview of what’s coming up:
In 2018, we have the opportunity to unseat Senator Bill Nelson and we must defend all of our cabinet seats. There will be a whole new slate of candidates running for Governor, Attorney General,  Commissioner of Agriculture, and Chief Financial Officer. Locally, we’ll have to defend our two Republican seats on the County Commission. We’ll have to elect a freshman Representative to replace Gayle Harrell and a freshman Senator to replace Joe Negron. Democrats are sure to target our newly elected Congressman Brian Mast. And there will be many other important races as well.
I look forward to working with each and every one of to make sure we are just as successful in 2018 as we were this year in 2016.
Thanks for taking the time to read this report!
Respectfully,
Anthony Bonna
Republican State Committeeman
St. Lucie County, FL