GOP opens Valley headquarters

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press September 13, 2000.

By THOMAS FRANCIS
Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE - There must be an election nearing, because on Tuesday the Antelope Valley Republican Party leaders opened their headquarters in Palmdale, where the party hopes to stem the tide of growing Democrat voter registration and deliver the city to Gov. George W. Bush.

"Now, we just need volunteers to be phoning, registering voters and walking precincts, telling the people of Palmdale that Bush is our guy," said Sharon Runner, who is directing the Bush campaign's efforts in the Valley.

Runner is one of the five chief campaign organizers in a region that encompasses all of San Bernardino, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

In the Valley, Runner says there are 250 Bush volunteers and, with the headquarters' opening and outreach efforts around the community, she expects that number to grow as the Nov. 7 general election approaches.

"I don't believe the (Vice President Al) Gore campaign knows what a groundswell of campaign organizing is out here," Runner said.

With the headquarters now open at 1713 East Palmdale Blvd., Suite A (behind Blockbuster Video), Republicans have a home base from which to launch their preelection campaigning.

"When we do our precinct walks, we'll do it out of here instead of having to make (volunteers) drive 10 to 15 miles from Lancaster," Runner said.

The Lancaster headquarters opened Aug. 16, and Runner says temporary stations in Quartz Hill and Littlerock will take the Bush message to the largest unincorporated communities in the region.

Integral to the local cause is the Palmdale Republican Women Federated group who will staff the Palmdale headquarters. Their booth at the Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival kept itself busy in registering GOP voters and handing out campaign literature.

"I work the fair and it was interesting how many Democrats came to change over (to Republican registration)," said Mary Croxen, a leader of the federation. "They were sick and tired of what's been going on the last eight years; they're sick of what's happened to the military."

If there is disenchantment in the Valley about Democratic leadership in Washington, Republicans say they can tap into it. They face a rather unfamiliar circumstance, though, in Palmdale, as higher rates of Democrat registration have rendered the GOP a slight minority.

The most recent statistics counted 17,571 registered Democrats in the city, to 16,807 Republicans.

"With a little more effort, we'll be able to go back and achieve a majority in the Antelope Valley," said Rick Norris, a candidate for Palmdale City Council who attended the headquarters opening.

The Palmdale location, Norris added, "means we're one step further in promoting the Republican cause."

To Isaac Barcelona, a past president of the AV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, promotion of Republican ideals is the key to the local Latino vote. Though that ethnicity generally correlates with Democrat registration, Barcelona says the GOP message is closer to their core.

"It's just a matter of informing the Hispanic community," he said. "It goes with our work ethic, our family values and our entrepreneurship. We're seldom asking for help from the government, and the Republican philosophy is that you get up and help yourself."

Richard Loa, who like Norris is seeking a Palmdale council seat, intends to attract Latino votes by expounding traditionally conservative, Republican positions.

"We have a very cogent message," he said. "It reaches the hearts of these people and it will motivate them to vote for Republicans from the top to the bottom."