Author: James Womack

During my 4 years at West Point, and throughout my 20-year Army career, one of the enduring principles ingrained in me is that “no one gets left behind.” The concept of valuing every person’s worth to the combat team and assuring each person that they were coming home at the end of the campaign persists with me today.

The North Carolina Republican Party is analogous to the combat organizations I have had the honor to lead. Our “army” is made up of many different factions- from Tea Party Patriots to Libertarians; from Cruz Constitutionalists to President Trump’s America First followers.  Truly, our base is becoming more diversified and our message must resonate across a much broader spectrum of voters than ever in our history. Unfortunately, our NCGOP leadership is not doing enough to emphasize the common virtues and values we share to unify the team so it can wage war on our opposition- the democrat party and its base of liberals and progressives -who seek to destroy our nation, one bathroom bill at a time. Our leadership team allowed identity politics to divide us in 2016, which helped give the democrats the edge they needed to win important races for governor, attorney general and the state supreme court. We left those three candidates behind, and we failed again in 2018- allowing the democrats to eliminate our super-majority in the general assembly and losing another State Supreme Court seat.  We will pay the price for those losses for the next 4-6 years.

For our party to grow and prosper in coming years, we must change the way our leadership behaves. We simply cannot continue insulating our highest level governing organization from the base of our party. We have to be more accessible to, better communicate with, and push information down to rank and file Republicans who labor endlessly at the base of our party in the precincts and counties. Every Republican in the state needs to know he or she is valued and will not be left behind. Every delegate to state and national conventions needs to know their opinions and ideas are welcomed and venerated, and that they will be given fair treatment- not rewarded by being left behind, stranded to fend for themselves.

Under my leadership the North Carolina Republican Party will never leave its workers, its delegates, or its candidates behind. We will strive for cross-faction collaboration, always aiming at the main objective, so we win every major election and reward all of our stalwart troops for their faithful service.

Please join Team Womack and help me make sure no one gets left behind!

#ReviveTheParty

Learn more about Jim Womack here.

The North Carolina Republican Party has 2,046,747 members registered to vote, a deficit of 592,490 to the democrats. We need to eliminate this gap over the next four years. Given our citizens’ reverence for liberty, Judeo-Christian tenets, and traditional American values, North Carolina should be a “red state” for all intents and purposes. We not only “lean” right, we are right.

For much too long, our party’s leadership has ignored the problem with the voter gap between us and the democrats. North Carolina is branded by national media outlets as a “light blue state’ or as a “swing state.” These labels affect voting behaviors among what Rush refers to as “low information voters.” Our voter registration deficit reflects the influence of identity politics as well.

Our opponents claim minority groups as their natural affiliates; despite the fact the Republican Party Platform best reflects their ideals- a Christian belief system, marriage between a man and a woman, a traditional family constellation, support for Israel, textual interpretation of our Constitution, and limitations to the size and scope of our federal government. Frankly, most American citizens (and many North Carolinians) are woefully misinformed about the parties and what each stands for.

As NCGOP Chairman, I will champion the cause to eliminate our registration deficit. For the next four years, we will out-work our democrat counterparts in educating prospective voters about our principles and values. We will empower our counties and precincts with the automation, tools, and training they need to market our party to the uninformed.  Below is one such tool, insprired by Franklin Graham, that I developed for broad distribution around the state.

#ReviveTheParty

The Republican Party is the party of the working man and woman. Too often, though, our party leadership ignores that hallmark, a major source of strength in the NCGOP.

Clearly, the majority of working North Carolinians voted to give Republicans control of the council of state, the election of 10 congressmen among our 13 districts, super majorities in the NC House and Senate, and a dominance of appellate court justices across the state; all of this despite the Republican Party having a voter affiliation deficit of 594,000 prospective voters to the democrat party.

Party leaders frequently fail to demonstrate concern for grass roots Republicans who represent the heart and soul of our party. They suppress participation in party governance by profiteering off of rank and file Republicans at conventions. They meddle politically in the regulation and oversight of important, long-standing state industries like commercial fishing and textiles. And they suppress participation of working class Republicans in district- and state-level Executive Committee meetings and conventions. It’s no wonder we continue to lag behind democrats in overall party affiliation around the state.

As Chairman of the NCGOP, I will insist we restore the state Republican Party to the working man and woman. We will set meetings and agendas that are well publicized and forecast well in advance for dates and times conducive to a working person’s schedule. We will permit remote participation for those who have work-related travel limitations. We will promote and defend the interests of lifeblood industries to achieve a thriving commercial fishing industry and a working coastline. We will advocate for measures that lead to full employment in furniture, agri-business, and textiles across the state. The GOP will liaison frequently and effectively with key legislators on matters of importance to the working class.

After I am elected, the NCGOP will abandon the ‘country club members only’ attitude that has crept into our policies, Plan of Organization, and operating procedures. We will conduct education and training for aggressive outreach within the minority groups around the state. By appealing to the working class, we will encourage more unaffiliated and conservative democrats to join our party, reduce the voter affiliation gap, and win important, contested races in the future.

#RevivetheParty

Read more about Jim Womack here.

Jim Womack on NCGOP Governance.
Jim Womack on NCGOP and Technology.
Jim Womack on NCGOP Fundraising.

The NCGOP State Plan of Organization (POO) establishes a system of governance that extends from the precinct level to the NCGOP state leadership level. At the heart of this governance structure is the Executive Committee (ExCom), which gives voice to elected officials, district leadership teams, and at-large members from across the counties.

The POO clearly enumerates the ExCom as being the superior governing body, the organizational component that makes all the major decisions for the party. The Central Committee (CC) is a smaller body which has the charter to execute the decisions of the ExCom on a month to month basis.

Unfortunately, the NCGOP has not operated under that model for many years. Worse still, the CC has instituted a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that has cloaked its inner deliberations in secrecy.

The NCGOP senior leadership in the CC is usurping the authority of the ExCom and preventing the ExCom from even holding meetings. This practice must stop immediately.

As Party Chairman, I will insist the ExCom meet quarterly to review and approve the detailed budget and expenditures, to review party program initiatives, to consider resolutions, platform and policy changes, and to shape the party’s message to our elected officials. I fully support the elimination of the Central Committee’s NDA, as it prevents transparency and accountability within this body.

As Party Chairman I will sanction a 2017-18 (year-round) POO committee to receive state-wide inputs on necessary POO changes, many of which have been suppressed at convention the past several years. This committee will report quarterly to the ExCom its findings and recommendations for POO reform, in a transparent and flexible manner.

The committee will reconstruct the POO through several iterations of revision during the year based on ExCom guidance, bringing this document up to date and making it reflect the use of 21st Century technologies. One month prior to the 2018 state convention, the final version will be published for delegate consideration. The final product – a reformed POO – will be given an up or down vote for adoption at the 2018 convention.

Learn more about Jim Womack here.

Jim Womack on Fundraising
Jim Womack on Technology

Although the State Plan of Organization does not address fundraising, it is a vital function and an important duty of the NCGOP. Our problem with past fundraising is that we fail to treat it like an essential part of our business.

As an experienced corporate sales executive, I know how to build a brand and value proposition, then sell that brand and value to targeted clients. I know how to develop a pipeline for future revenues and to manage that pipeline to ensure cash flows into the business. I closed more than $100M in sales during my 10-year career as an IT Sales Executive. I will bring that expertise to the NCGOP for full time sales and marketing of our brand and value to prospects, large and small.

As with most businesses, our ability to sell our message and values to prospective contributors is shared across the party spectrum. Local efforts should be focused on sustaining the local party organizations and their candidates. Our districts should be focused on fundraising for support of judicial and congressional races. And our state-level activities ought to be focused on helping state-level candidates win and on sustaining the party headquarters.

I do not believe the party should be using our annual state convention as a profit center for fundraising. Frankly, elevated prices for the convention discourages many of the party faithful from attending and creates divided loyalty between the counties and the state-level organization. We need to keep convention prices to the absolute lowest levels to increase participation and sustain party unity. The end result will be a larger base of GOP support, more collaboration with that base, and broader membership in the party. This will enhance our collaborative fundraising efforts.

Finally, the NCGOP needs a stable year-round cash flow system that sustains core operations throughout the election cycle. For years, we have experienced ups and downs in cash flows, sometimes having to furlough essential staff at inopportune times because of lack of funds. As an experienced business unit manager, I know how to sustain stable operations and set aside funding for surge activities when needed during the election cycle.

Learn more about Jim Womack here.

Jim Womack on Technology.
Jim Womack on Governance.