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Chairman's Message:
2005: YEAR IN REVIEW
The
College Republicans have had a very
successful year. From participating in
issue activism to working on political
campaigns, the UFCR took an active part
in the Republican Party and the
Conservative movement. Here’s what we
have accomplished over the past year:
Issue Activism
· Social
Security Reform:
During the
UFCR State Convention in March, the
College Republicans resolved to
concentrate on Social Security reform
during President Bush’s campaign to pass
his Personal Retirement Accounts reform
through Congress. Chapters around the
state handed out information about the
issue which culminated in a combined
statewide rally in downtown Salt Lake in
support of Social Security reform. The
rally received Fox News coverage. In
sum, hundreds of people were exposed to
the idea of Personal Retirement Accounts
through the College Republicans.
Supporting the Troops:
The College Republicans held a ‘honk and
wave’ in downtown Salt Lake to support
our troops. The rally was attended by
Iraq war veteran, and “Operation Care”
founder, Paul Holton, and more than 20
College Republicans. The UFCR plans to
hold these events regularly.
Campaign Work
The UFCR
participated in political campaigns in
Virginia, Utah, California and Colorado
in 2005.
· Virginia:
The
UFCR made more than 1,500 GOTV phone
calls on behalf of the Republican
statewide ticket in Virginia. This is
more than any other CR state
federation. The College Republicans are
widely believed to have swung the razor
thin race for the Attorney General’s
office to Republican Bob McDonnel.
· Colorado:
Utah College Republicans participated in
the effort to defeat Referendums C and D
during the last election. These
referendums sought to suspend the
Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights so
that the legislature could pay for their
irresponsible levels of spending.
Although C passed, D failed by a narrow
margin, and part of Colorado’s TABOR
protections remained in place.
· California:
College Republicans brought a group to
San Diego to campaign in a crucial city
council race. The race decided control
of a Council in the nation’s 6th
largest city, San Diego. In the end,
Republican Kevin Faulconer prevailed by
fewer than 500 votes. The Utah
volunteers provided over 500 volunteer
hours during the race, and made hundreds
of voter contacts which very likely
played a role in the outcome of the
race.
Utah:
The UFCR
has provided crucial volunteers to
Republican events and different
campaigns. College Republicans have
also focused on registering new
Republican voters in order to bring us
victory in 2006.
Activities
The Utah
Federation brought more people to the
annual West Coast Leadership Conference
than any other state, save the host
state of California. Over 100 Utah CR’s
traveled to California to receive vital
training, and hear from a plethora of
Conservative scholars and leaders.
Organizational Growth
College
Republican chapters across the state
added hundreds of new College
Republicans to their ranks in 2005.
Clubs were
either re-chartered or started at Salt
Lake Community College, Weber State,
Southern Utah University and Utah Valley
State College.
*Zach
Howell currently serves as the UFCR
Chairman and is a Political Science
major at the University of Utah.
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