The summary provides an overview of the Chairman's report on the accomplishments and future plans of the California Republican Party (CRP). It discusses that under the leadership, the CRP has become financially stable by eliminating debt, raised over $73 million, expanded networks and voter registration efforts, and increased GOP voter turnout. However, to prevent becoming weak after each election cycle, the report recommends the CRP establish financial controls to fund operations after elections, allow independent expenditures, and prohibit large loans to ensure long-term stability and success.

1. Chairman’s Report
Ron Nehring
Chairman, California Republican Party
1

2. What can the CRP’s leadership directly control?
External Factors
Internal Factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Nomination of candidates
Candidate campaigns
Candidate messaging
Legislation
Finances
Management
Personnel
Programs
2

3. What We Accomplished Together:
FINANCES
3

4. CRP: Out of Debt
End of cycle financial position, 2006 vs. 2008 vs. 2010
$484,160.18
Dec. 2006
$427,297.38
Dec. 2008
Dec. 2010
$(4,147,772.68)
4

5. California Republican Party:
$73.8 million raised by the team
Thank you to the entire finance team 2007 - 2011:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Finance Chairmen Francis, Tellefsen, Krvaric, Miller
Team Cal Chairmen Russo, Lyons
Assembly Leaders Plescia, Villines, Blakeslee, Garrick, Conway
Senate Leaders Ackerman, Hollingsworth, Dutton
Finance Director Molly Parnell and her team
Executive Director Brent Lowder
5

6. New Financial Controls and Practices.
 Spending against Available Funds, not Cash on Hand.
 Purchase orders. Expenditures approved internally only after
ED approved a purchase order. Checks against available funds
and budget.
 Vendors mandated to provide final invoices by Nov 20.
 Dual signatures on all party accounts.
 Complete revision of personnel manual, practices, reducing
costs.
 Rapid downsizing of staff following election. Sustainable
trajectory.
 Funding the reserve ongoing, not at the end.
6

7. Candidate Campaigns
• Startup.
• Responsible for electing
ONE candidate.
• Candidate is in charge.
• Terminates on Election Day.
Party Committees
• Ongoing entities.
• Responsible for supporting
multiple candidates.
• Democracy.
• Still has bills to pay in
December, etc.
7

8. What We Accomplished Together:
PROGRAMS
8

11. Networks: Coalition Building
www.CRPNetworks.org & www.CRPWomen.org
26 Coalition-specific
Networks
23,595 Members
Retained Fiorina +
Whitman Voter
Network Tags

13. Networks
Coalition ID Flags
37 74 370
African American Coalition
Agriculture Coalition
Asian American Coalition
2,891
Business Coalition
3,794
600
345
Educators Coalition
GenM Coalition
Healthcare Coalition
399
430
Jewish Coalition
611
463
21
462
916
4
7,177
1
Latinos Coalition
Local Elected Official Coalition
National Elected Official Coalition
Nurses Coalition
Public Safety Coalition
Seniors Coalition
Veterans Coalition
Youth Coalition
Leadership Coalition

16. • 760+ candidates, staff and activists trained.
• 10 campaign schools
Grassroots Organization, Technology and Social
Media, Message, Volunteer Recruitment, Voter Contact
and Fundraising
• Two Campaign Management Colleges
Sacramento: August 14 – 15
Orange County: August 28 – 29

18. Voter Registration 1988-2010
9,000,000
8,000,000
7,052,386
7,000,000
7,410,914 7,219,635 7,387,504
6,671,747
7,683,495 7,620,240
6,989,006 7,134,601 6,825,400 7,120,425
6,727,908
6,000,000
5,745,518
5,704,536
5,436,314 5,428,052 5,361,875
5,406,127 5,290,202 5,593,555 5,472,391
5,314,912 5,485,492 5,388,895
5,000,000
4,192,544 4,303,768
3,672,886
4,000,000
3,087,214 3,089,174 3,236,059
2,570,035 2,665,267
3,000,000
2,000,000
2,097,004 2,031,758
1,546,378 1,516,078
1,000,000
0
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
DEM
REP
2000
OTHER
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010

19. Voter Registration
327,426+
New Republicans
Registered in California in
2010
CRP Direct w/ Local Control
15 County Committees participated
33 Vendors contracted at local level
8 Vendors contracted at state level
Independent Expenditure
31 GOP Counties
27 DEM Counties
4 of 7 largest are DEM
$3.62 million
$12.12 average
per registration

20. Sacramento Region
Total Registrations: 56,153
Bounty: 18,006
Rest of State: 1,002
Central Valley Region
Total Registrations: 23,778
Bay Area Region
Total Registrations: 30,561
Inland Empire
Total Registrations: 55,398
San Luis Obispo County
Total Registrations: 5,337
Los Angeles Region
Total Registrations: 58,471
Orange County
Total Registrations: 16,176
San Diego Region
Total Registrations: 34,108
CRP
Registration
Totals:
298,990
527
Registration
Totals:
28,436
Overall GOP
Registration
Totals:
327,426

22. Turnout by Party Affiliation
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
REP
65.7%
DEM
40.0%
30.0%
60.1%
61.1%
48.7%
DTS
OTHER
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
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23. Voter Turnout: Statewide Precinct Operations & Contact
3,396,636
Grassroots Voter Contacts
2,926,666 Phone Calls
469,970 Door Knocks
530,000 Walk Pieces Delivered
59 County Customized Versions
5,000+ Precinct Rep. Database
2 Statewide Precinct Walks
42 Counties Activated
900 Candidates Endorsed
675 for Local Office
60% Local Win Rate
18.9 million mail pieces
1.5 million target voters

24. PREVENTING “GROUNDHOG DAY”
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25. Groundhog Day
• Risk: Beginning the next cycle with weakness:
– Financially crippled.
– Lack of accumulated assets from 2010
– Dissipation of accumulated knowledge
• This happens to state parties over and over
again.

26. State Party
• Ongoing entity. The party cannot shut down on Election Day.
It needs to function, has bills to pay.
• Responsible for supporting multiple candidates. Tendency for
statewide candidates to expect party to be only about them, to
the exclusion of Congressional, state legislative, local
candidates.
• Democracy. Political parties are not dictatorships, like
candidate campaigns. Rules, process are important.
• Still has bills to pay in December. Much tougher to raise
money after Election Day, yet party will have financial needs

27. We know…
• Fundraising, particularly major donor fundraising, will slow to
a crawl or stop altogether following Election Day.
• In many cases, win or lose, the candidates are not going to be
interested in, or capable of, raising money for the state party
after the election.
• Assets will fly away without a conscious effort to retain them.
• The party will be called upon to support candidates in 2012.
• Debt generates bad press, making fundraising even more
difficult.

28. Advice for Future CRP Leaders
Rule #1:
You are the leaders at the table whose first
responsibility is to the state party.
• Everyone else has a different first priority.
–
–
–
–
–
Elected officials
Candidates
County chairs
Donors
Volunteer groups

29. Advice for Future CRP Leaders
Rule #2:
The Chairman must be responsible for
approving state party expenditures.
 Accomplished

30. Advice for Future CRP Leaders
Rule #3:
The state party staff must be accountable to the
chairman.
• Everybody needs a boss.
• Management by committee does not work.
• Nothing with two heads lives.

31. Advice for Future CRP Leaders
Rule #4:
Recognize the state party has responsibilities
that go beyond this year’s candidates and
elected officials.
• The party has bills to pay in December, and you’re
responsible for them.
• Fundraising dries up after the election.
• Debt is crippling. Real-time debt, future debt resulting from
no reserve.

32. Advice for Future CRP Leaders
Rule #5:
Do not run the Republican Party the way
Democrats run government.
•
•
•
•
Map out the budget for 2013 before Election Day 2012.
Do not set unrealistic fundraising expectations post-Election.
Do not end in debt.
Establish and fund a cash reserve to carry through postelection dry season.

33. Advice for Future CRP Leaders
Rule #6:
Consider every party activity to be an
infrastructure-building exercise.
• Fundraising. Build your list. Build your sustained giving
programs. Enroll donors into donors clubs, anticipate
renewals.
• Political programs. Add tags to your voter file. Build volunteer
lists. Mail and doorhangers should include reply devices.
Archive all polling, research, plans.
• Communications. Continually improve the media list. Expand
the contact lists.
• Administration. Retain computers, phones, hard assets.

34. The next three cycles can look like this…
Start
Finish
…or this…
Finish
Start

35. What We Have Left to Do
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36. What we have left to do:
PERMANENTLY PROHIBIT MASSIVE
LOANS/DEBT
Amendment to 3.03(B)1:
(1) Any proposed contract, transaction or other obligation which exceeds $100,000 in
amount shall be subject to the prior express approval of the Board of Directors.
(2) The Board of Directors is specifically prohibited from recognizing, authorizing or reauthorizing any loan or obligation, of any amount, entered into but not repaid during the
previous term of the Board of Directors. This provision shall not apply to a mortgage taken
for the purchase of a building or similar facility.
(3) Any proposed contract, transaction or other obligation the performance of which extends
beyond the term of office of the Chairman or Board of Directors shall be subject to the
express prior approval of the Committee or the Executive Committee by a majority vote of
the voting delegates present. However, the Committee and the Executive Committee are
specifically prohibited from accepting any loan or other form of debt under this section.
36

37. What we have left to do:
REQUIRE THE FUNDING OF A CASH RESERVE TO
FUND THE PARTY AFTER ELECTION DAY
(2) The budget shall provide for a transition fund sufficient to fund all
operations of the committee from November 1 of the even-numbered
year to March 1 of the following year to be spent after the end of the
preceding fiscal year and before the adoption of the next biennial
budget. The full amount of the transition fund shall be set aside and
sequestered by October 1 of the even-numbered year. No expenditure
of committee funds of any kind, from any account, shall be permitted
after October 1 of the even-numbered year unless the transition fund
has sufficient funds A MINIMUM OF $500,000 deposited within it as
outlined by this section. This section may be waived only upon a
2/3rds recorded roll call vote of the Board of Directors.
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38. What we have left to do:
ALLOW THE CRP TO CONDUCT INDEPENDENT
EXPENDITURES, JUST LIKE OTHER GROUPS
Add new 2.06.02 (K) Independent Expenditures Committee. The Independent
Expenditures Committee shall develop and implement plans to conduct
independent expenditures in support of federal and state candidates endorsed
by the Committee or in opposition to candidates opposed by the Committee.
The Independent Expenditures Committee shall be composed of persons
appointed by the Chairman who could legally participate in independent
expenditure decisionmaking for the Committee in compliance with applicable
federal and state laws governing such activities. The Federal and State
Independent Expenditures Committee shall develop a budget for such
activities, which budget shall be incorporated in the budget process of the
Committee. The Chairman of the Committee shall report to the Chairman of the
Committee and designated members of the Board of Directors who meet the
same legal criteria for participation in decisionmaking of the Independent
Expenditures Committee.
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39. Final Thoughts
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40. Thank You!
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