CRA Update: A Write Up on Their 2023 Convention

First Off – Here are the Results of the Officer Elections:

2023 Annual Convention Officer Election Results

Executive Vice President Davina Keiser – 105 votes *** Dale Tyler – 29 votes Vice President (5 Positions) Jim Shoemaker – 112 votes *** Katherine Loy – 111 votes *** Rich Handy – 101 votes *** David Marko – 93 votes *** Jo Reitkopp – 86 votes *** Greg Perrone – 73 votes Dean Gross – 53 votes Membership Secretary Zonya Townsend – 100 votes Rich Marshall – 62 votes Voter Registration Secretary Karl George – 122 votes *** Martha Flores-Gibson – 35 votes Treasurer Pat Garcia – 94 votes *** Baron Night – 66 votes National Committeeman Bill Cardoza – 113 votes *** Jong Lee – 48 votes National Committeewoman Nancy Hinton – 123 votes *** Eveyln Jones – 38 votes *** Elected (Two-year term of office)

Please Note: Carl Brickey was Elected President, Greg Goehring Recording Secretary, PJ Garcia Corresponding Secretary, Greg Qunath Asst. Treasurer, Paul Beckley Sgt. at Arms. with no opposition.

Here is the bottom line about the CRA convention as I have aggregated several people’s input. The Old Guard of CRA attempted the standard array of tricks at the convention, including picking floor fights and losing them all badly. It seems that the same thing I wrote about the RCC held true at CRA, some folks can’t let go or accept that the political winds have shifted.

The bottom line is that CRA is the only GOP group not in decline. CRA is the premier anti-establishment GOP group in CA.

Since 2019 – CRA’s Membership has tripled. (See also 300% gain)

Since 2019 – The CRA has doubled the number of chapters… all of whom have real people and host real meetings.

Since 2019 – The CRA’s convention attendance has increased 250%.

Currently, 6 New CRA Chapters are in the works. George Yang is in the middle of several of these new groups helping CRA establish a presence in the Bay Area.

My guess is Brickey serves 4 Years as President of CRA as a transition from the old guard who are fading away and is a bridge to the next generation of conservative leaders. If successful, this becomes a model for other groups about how to sustain growth and effectiveness even while time marches on.

The results (growth of CRA) of the new generation of leaders speak for themselves.

To be continued…

P.S. I served as an officer of the CRA for 15 years. That era was characterized by constant fighting and drama. The chain of events that led to my expulsion was another series of fights. It appears that 2-3 years after I was expelled from CRA, the leadership finally got a handle on the fake clubs and a lot of the remaining bad actors. In 2019, the CRA had hit bottom and has been in a growth pattern since. Many of the combatants from those years are no longer in CRA and well over half the current chapters are brand new. This is exactly what was and is needed for a healthy CRA.