COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Republicans met in Columbia over the weekend for their quarterly committee meeting, where the party focused on new ways to reach out to Latinos — part of a broader strategy laid out by party leaders.
The party used the prime speaking spots at its meeting to highlight new Latino outreach programs, including messages from representatives of the Republican National Hispanic Association and the Hispanic Republicans of Missouri, as the party nationally seeks to reengage hispanic voters.
The message of the two speakers was that the party should present a “united front” to “expand the base.” But toward the end of the meeting, when committee members were given the opportunity to present their own ideas, there was a sharp pivot in the messaging to calls to “secure the border” and deny “amnesty,” a window into what could be a divide between the party establishment and the party’s foot soldiers on the ground in competitive counties.
The meeting was the first of its kind since Missouri Republican Party Chairman Ed Martin was elected to the position earlier this year. Martin used the setting to announced the hiring of new staff, including Jeremy Cady, former legislative assistant to Eric Burlison, for a new position managing technology, and Matt Wills, former regional political director for Rick Santorum, as party spokesman.
The two will work in concert to push new media strategies, including more graphics on Facebook, more outreach via Twitter, a more user-friendly website to help the party spread its message, and more accessible data for grassroots organizers, Martin said.
Finance
According to the party’s unaudited income statement presented to committee members, the party spent more than $404,300 in the first half of the year, while raising $225,900. They spent more than $100,000 on fundraising itself (including the Lincoln Days event), ending the first half of the year with just over $140,000 in the bank.
Shane Schoeller, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, told the committee that the party would be hosting the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference in September, where speakers including Rick Santorum, GOP Chairman Reince Priebus, and a handful of 2016 presidential prospects have been invited to speak. (That event will take place a week before conservatives gather on the other side of the state for CPAC St. Louis).
Privately, some Republicans voiced the concern that the party may begin to struggle financially moving in to the coming months with as much overhead as it has, particularly as the MRLC meeting — a major expenditure for the second half of the year — moves closer.
On Monday, a senior Republican party source denounced the notion that the party was somehow struggling financially — pointing to costs incurred by their annual Lincoln Day dinner, as well as the potential to raise funds later this year, when the party will host two “Spirit of Enterprise” Dinners — one in St. Louis (as has been the case in the past), and another in Kansas City to capitalize on the potential for a large donor base to be present for big speakers likely at the MRLC.