December 2, 2014

December always proves to be a very busy month for everyone with all the holiday activities. The Rockport Christmas Parade is this Saturday, December 6, and the Santa Claus Christmas Parade is next Saturday, December, 13. Please join us to ride the float or walk in the parade!

Don’t miss the Spencer County Republican Christmas Party! We invite you to join us on Tuesday, December 9, at the 4-H Building in Chrisney, at 6 p.m. Everyone is welcome! A dessert and/or side dish would be greatly appreciated! Lots of Christmas goodies will be given away. I hope to see you there!

Republican Strong!

Nov. 13, 2014

With the election a week behind us now, I reflect on just how hard we all worked and, for the most part, the election results show just that. I commend our candidates for putting their lives on hold and stepping up for Spencer County. It has truly been my pleasure working with them all during this campaign.

We had a great turnout of voters with nearly 48% of those registered casting a ballot. This is almost double from the primary election. Most of our signs were pulled and put away within 48 hours of the election. Thanks to everyone that helped with this huge effort. If you see any Republican signs still standing, please call or drop them off on the southeast side of Republican Headquarters.

On election night, after the vote was tallied and things were winding down for the night, someone said to me, ‘Winkler, what are you going to do now’. I said, ‘Get started on the next one!’

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Republican Strong!

Nov. 3, 2014

Our candidates have run clean, effective campaigns and have NOT participated in mudslinging, like many of the falsehoods you hear coming from the other side. I have sincerely enjoyed working with, and have a great deal of respect for, each and every one of them! I am proud of the job they have done.

It takes a lot of courage, time, money, and personal sacrifice to run for public office, and I applaud them all for stepping up to the challenge. It has truly been my privilege as Republican County Chairman to have been involved with this fine group.

With this, I ask you to not only vote Republican on Tuesday, November 4, but to contact your family members and friends and ask them to do the same! It is critical we get ALL of our vote out on Tuesday. Our candidates deserve no less. Remember, in recent years, races have been won and lost by less than 10 votes. EVERY vote counts and EVERY vote matters!

Republican Strong!

Thank You and God Bless.

October 8, 2014

On Sunday, September 14, we traveled to Luce Township to participate in the Richland Car Show. The booth was set up and we supplied the show-goers with free popcorn. State Representative Ron Bacon had his Rambler entered in the show. It was an enjoyable afternoon. Saturday, September 20, found most of our candidates traveling north to Huff Township to attend the Evanston Hog Roast. On Tuesday, September 23, our candidates attended the candidate forum hosted by the Grandview Civic Association and the Spencer County Farm Bureau. Candidates were given a limited time to introduce themselves and then fielded questions from the crowd. Our candidates were well prepared and represented themselves and the Republican Party in a positive manner. Thanks to Grandview and the Farm Bureau for hosting this informative evening. On Sunday, September 28, we held our first Family Fun Day at the Rockport City Park. This event proved to be a great success. We gave away lots of popcorn and hotdogs. The barrel train ran non-stop all afternoon, and the big inflatables were a hit with the kids. Thanks to Mickey Toler for donating the use of the barrel train and to Eric Winkler for his help with the inflatables. On Monday, September 29, a standing room only crowd gathered at Pepper?s Ridge for a fundraiser benefiting State Representative Ron Bacon. Congressman Larry Bucshon was a special guest. October 4 was a busy day with the Spencer County Fair Octoberfest and Demolition Derby. We popped and gave away almost 100 pounds of popcorn, and we sponsored the trophies for the Derby. I?m happy to say the GOP sponsored car lasted all three derbies. We gained a lot of candidate exposure through the Spencer County Fair advertisements in the local papers. The Mt. Zion Apple Fest, October 11-12, was also a busy weekend for our candidates, who are also going door-to-door in varying neighborhoods in between events.

This Saturday, October 18, we are hosting a ?Meet The Candidates? FREE Biscuit and Gravy Breakfast at the Santa Claus Community Center between 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Everyone is welcome and invited to attend. After that we will travel to Chrisney for their annual parade which begins at noon.

On Monday, October 20, we are hosting a ?Meet The Candidates? FREE Soup Supper at Gwaltney Park in Midway beginning at 6:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to get to know your Republican candidates!

A special thanks to ALL who have helped put signs out. I?m not going to list everyone individually but, please know your efforts on behalf of the Republican Party and our candidates do not go unnoticed! THANK YOU!!

Republican Strong!!

Sept. 16, 2014

The Perry-Spencer Picnic was a huge success with a visit from Governor Pence, Attorney General Greg Zoeller, and the entire 2014 Republican ticket along with hundreds of party faithful. Thank you so much to the Mulzer family for their continued support of this important event!

Once again, Republicans dominated the Dale Fall Festival parade with entries from Kelly Corne For Prosecutor, Jim McDurmon For Sheriff, Jim Seiler For Commissioner, Autumn Winkler For Auditor, Robert Fuller For Coroner, Matt Knepper For County Council, Mike Roos For County Council, Suzanne Crouch For State Auditor, Mark Messmer For State Senate, Ron Bacon For State Representative, and Larry Bucshon for U.S. Congress. Thanks to all who came out to ride the float or walk for the candidates. Special thanks to Gary Adams for pulling our float.

We also set up a first class booth at the Dale Fall Festival with great representation of all our candidates. Thanks to Marlene Bowen with the Suzanne Crouch For State Auditor campaign for her efforts in helping out in the booth.

Thanks to all the candidates and elected officials for working in the booth during the three day event. Congratulations to Clay Beckner of Chrisney on winning the $250 gift card to Holiday Foods. Thanks to Jerriann and John Burroughs, David Gogel, Jim and Kathy McDurmon, Mike Roos, Marlene Bowen, Jim and Shannon Seiler, Robert Fuller and Autumn Winkler for helping set up or take down the booth.

Republican Strong!!!

August 14, 2014

We enjoyed a great time at the SCGOP Sporting Clay Tournament with over twenty shooters participating in the event. Congratulations to our winners Mark Cowans, Brian Stuteville, and Garrett Williams. Also, congratulations to Becky Phillips with the top score for female shooter. Thanks to all who participated and special thanks to Precinct Committeeman Alan Shourds, and to Jerriann Burroughs and Faith Williams who helped with the event.

We had a nice time at the fundraiser for Indiana Senate candidate Mark Messmer at the CLV Recreation Center. State Auditor Suzanne Crouch, State Representative Lloyd Arnold and our local candidates were also in attendance. Thanks to everyone who helped make this event a successful one!

We’ve had a change in candidates for County Council, District One, with the withdrawal of Joe Guinto who accepted a job opportunity that requires him to relocate. We hate to lose Joe as a candidate. However, I am happy to announce that Mike Roos has stepped up to the challenge and will be the Republican candidate for County Council, District One, which is made up of Luce, Grass, Jackson and Clay 1. We will be holding a caucus this Saturday, August 16, to replace Joe in the County Council, At-Large, seat which he also had to resign.. Unexpected things happen in life and when one door closes, another always opens. I wish Joe and his family the best in their future. A first for Spencer County is happening this Saturday… a Town Convention in Santa Claus. It seems we have two Town Council seats up for election. Incumbents Mike Johaness and Ron Smith have filed as well as newcomer Sherrill Clark. This situation requires the convening of a Republican Town Convention which has been officially called and will be held upstairs at the Santa Claus American Legion on Saturday, August 16, at 11:00 a.m. I have appointed past County Chairman, and Santa Claus resident, Jeff Lindsey to act as Chairman of the Convention. I sincerely thank Jeff for agreeing to accept this important position.

The Spencer County Fair Sizzlin Summer Fest was well…sizzlin! a very hot and humid afternoon, but it didn’t stop the folks and our candidates from coming. We popped almost 50 pounds of popcorn at the event. That’s a lot of free popcorn! Thanks to our candidates for hanging tough in the heat, and special thanks to Coroner Robert Fuller for making balloon animals and figures for all the children.

Save the date of Thursday, August 21, for the BIG Perry-Spencer Republican Picnic at Mulzer?s Camp, where you will hear from the entire 2014 Republican ticket. Also numerous elected state and local officials will be attending. Don’t miss this Republican event of events!!!

July 8, 2014

The golf scramble was a great success (except for the rain) with six teams from Spencer County and approximately 30 hole sponsors. Thanks to Holiday World and the Foertsch family for their continued support of this event.

The Republican tent was set up at both fairs and the Freedom Festival. We popped and gave away over 150 pounds of our delicious popcorn. There was an amazing Republican turnout for the Freedom Festival parade. The GOP float with our new sign featuring our logo was loaded down with Party faithful. Special thanks to Gary Adams for getting our float ready by installing the new sign and building the rack for all the candidate signs on top of the float. We also had several candidates attending the parade…Jim Seiler for Commissioner, Kelly Corne for Prosecutor, Robert Fuller for Coroner, Jim McDurmon for Sheriff, Autumn Winkler for Auditor, Mark Messmer for State Senate, Suzanne Crouch for State Auditor represented by Spencer County coordinator Marlene Bowen and husband, John, and State Representative Ron Bacon.

Many thanks to all the candidates, volunteers, contributors and Party faithful for help at these events!

Also, happy to announce we have filled the third spot on the ballot for Huff Township Board with Phil Leibering, and the third spot for Grass Township Board with Gary McDaniel.

Upcoming events in July include the Spencer County GOP Clay Shoot on July 20, and a fundraiser for State Senate candidate Mark Messmer on July 27.

June 12, 2014

Saturday morning was down to business with the convention being called to order at 10:00 a.m. Business before the delegation was to adopt our Party?s platform, and to nominate our candidates for statewide offices including Connie Lawson for Secretary of State, Suzanne Crouch for Auditor of State and, after three ballots and a full afternoon of voting, Kelly Mitchell for Treasurer of State. Congratulations to Connie, Suzanne and Kelly! We have a great Republican ticket from top to bottom.

Special thanks to our delegates Vicki Brauns, John Burroughs, Kenneth Coultas, Debbie Foertsch, Mike Roos, and Randall Spinks for hanging tough all day! I appreciate your dedication and service to our Party. Also attending were Tom Brauns, Jerriann Burroughs, Kim Coultas and Weepublican Bre Burns. We were surprised to see Spencer County?s own Voter Registration Official John Rudisill on hand with the voting machine company helping supervise the voting process.

After a short break, we all enjoyed a fine steak dinner and were treated to an amazing concert by Kenny Loggins at the historic Embassy Theatre. He had delegates from across the State dancing in the aisles! What a convention! Hats off to the Host Committee, Chairman Tim Berry and everyone at INGOP.

You may have noticed Headquarters has a new sign on the east wall to go along with the new paint and our enlarged parking lot.

There is only one word for the next thirty days and it is BUSY! Upcoming events include the Spencer County Fair/June 11-14, the Southern Indiana Republican Golf Scramble/June 24, Spencer County 4-H Fair/June 25-28, and Rockport Freedom Festival and Parade/July 4. Please volunteer as you can! We need help setting up and tearing down our tent, popping popcorn and manning the booths, decorating the float and walking or riding in the parade. I hope to see everyone out at these events!

May 13, 2014

A HUGE thank you goes to Larry Snyder for opening Republican Headquarters daily for the month preceding the primary election. His dedication is more than appreciated! Some of you may have noticed Republican Headquarters has a fresh coat of paint. Thanks to John Clark for his efforts with pressure washing, painting, and other repairs and maintenance. We have also enlarged our parking lot to help accommodate our large crowds. Thanks to Lee Frobeter for donating over 30 tons of white rock for the expansion and to Blake Clark for helping with the grade work. A very long primary season has come to an end and we congratulate the winners. I commend all the candidates for their hard work, but especially the Sheriff candidates who campaigned for over a year. Each one of them worked very hard and did it with class and integrity!

A caucus of the Luce Township Precinct Committeemen was held May 11, to fill a vacancy on the Township Board due to the death of Jo Ann Roop. Our sincere sympathies are extended to her family. Ramona Beatty was selected to finish the term, and will be a candidate for the position on the Republican ticket in the November general election. The Republican State Convention will be held June 6-7 in Fort Wayne. Spencer County has been alloted seven delegates. Elected and attending from Spencer County are Vicki Brauns, John Burroughs, Kenny Coultas, Debbie Foertsch, Mike Roos, Randall Spinks, and myself.

A fundraiser will be held for State Auditor Suzanne Crouch on Saturday, June 14, at Cool Springs in Dubois County. Mark your calendars. Details will follow at a later date. It is now time to get down to business, get out, work and get this done! We have a ticket we can all be proud to support! From top to bottom we have hard working, qualified, energetic, and dedicated folks!

We have a busy month upcoming with the Spencer County Fair, the Spencer County 4-H Fair, the Southern Indiana Republican Golf Scramble, and the Rockport Freedom Fest. Volunteers will be needed and appreciated!

Republican Strong!

April 11, 2014

Last week I attended a meeting of the Eighth District Republican Committee held in Washington with Eighth District Chairman Rick Martin. Two of the three candidates for State Treasurer, Don Bates Jr. and Wayne Seybold, spoke at the meeting.

Republican Headquarters will be open daily (hours by chance) from now through primary election day. Stop in for some popcorn or call 812-686-1969 with any questions between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

The Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner is coming up April 22nd at Santa?s Lodge in Santa Claus. Don?t forget to renew your Pachyderm Club membership to be entered for the special prize drawing at the dinner. You must be present to win. You can print the Pachyderm Club form online at the following link:

Click to access 2014PachydermLevels.pdf

With the primary fast approaching our candidates are out working hard, going door to door, putting up signs and attending local events. We will host another FREE ?Meet the Candidates? breakfast on April 26th at Republican Headquarters. Hope to see many of you there.