Caucus Tuesday Arriving for Teller Republicans

Dear Editor:

On the evening of March 6th, 2018 at 7:00pm, Teller County registered Republicans will gather for the Colorado State Caucus.  There has been a lot of confusion after the 2016 passage of Props 107 and 108 (presidential open primaries) about whether caucuses still exist and what role they play in our election process in Colorado.

I’m glad to say that caucuses are alive and well in Colorado, not just by practice, but by Colorado statute.  The pathway for candidates to seek public office starts at your local precinct caucus.  At caucuses, each local precinct will elect delegates to represent their precinct in county, district and state assemblies and consider resolutions brought forth by precinct members (that’s you).  At those assemblies, your delegates will consider and vote on resolutions forwarded from precincts and most importantly, these delegates will vote on candidates seeking placement on the ballot for the June primary election.  This year, those offices and their respective assemblies are:

1.       Colorado Governor (state assembly)

2.       Colorado Treasurer (state assembly)

3.       US House of Representatives (Congressional District V assembly)

4.       Colorado House of Representatives (House District 39 assembly)

5.       Colorado Senate (Senate District 2 assembly)

6.       Teller County Commissioner, District 2 (county assembly)

7.       Teller County Treasurer (county assembly)

8.       Teller County Sheriff (county assembly)

9.       Teller County Assessor (county assembly)

10.   Teller County Clerk (county assembly)

11.   Teller County Coroner (county assembly)

12.   Teller County Surveyor (county assembly
Teller County has 13 precincts and we choose to elect delegates to each of these assemblies directly from the precincts, rather than from the county assembly, as other counties do.  Why do we do it this way in Teller County?  Because we believe in the grass roots process – we believe that every precinct should have a voice in each assembly, to insure every neighborhood precinct is represented in the process to nominate and approve candidates for the primary ballots.  Statewide and federal office candidates can choose to bypass the assembly process but candidates for county offices, by statute, must follow the caucus and assembly process to be eligible for the ballot for the primary election to be held on June 26, 2018.

Registered Republicans can pre-register for the caucuses by going to our website, tellergop.org , and click on the link to pre-register.  Your caucus location and registration will be emailed to you.  Caucus locations are also listed on the website, so registered Republicans can also simply show up the night of the caucus (registration opens at 6:00pm) and check in.  Caucus meetings will start promptly at 7:00 pm.

If you would like to be a delegate to any of the assemblies and cannot attend your caucus, you can still participate!  Simply contact another member of your precinct, or your precinct co-chair and ask that your name be considered by your local precinct as a delegate. 

It is said that “All Politics Is Local”, and that quote couldn’t be more accurate in describing the importance of caucuses and assemblies in the election process.  I invite you to pre-register and come to your local caucus on March 6th, 2018.  Please feel free to call me directly at 719-246-9533 if you have any questions about participating in your local Teller County Republican Party Caucus.

               

                In Freedom,

                Erik Stone

                Teller County Republican Party Chair