Standing Tall in Oklahoma

NFRW BIENNIAL CONVENTION, OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
Dr. Linda Petrou
 

The National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW) held their biennial convention in Oklahoma City in early October to elect new leadership and to conduct other necessary business. Unlike previous conventions, this one was different due to challenges from the floor. Out of this convention came two things – actions have reactions and never ever tick off Republican Women or you will lose.

As chair of the NFRW Resolution Committee we submitted a number of resolutions for consideration at the Convention. The NFRW President refused to bring to the floor two of them. One dealt with men in women’s sports and the other defining what a woman is. This action set off a huge reaction from women across the US. They formed a coalition of women from 10+ states and they went to Oklahoma City prepared to fight. They dove deep into Robert’s Rules and prepared scripts to deal with any impediments put up by the leadership.

The first order of business after the credentials report was the approval of the Rules for the Convention. These women moved to amend the rules to allow resolutions from the floor. After much discussion, the amendment passed 400+ to 100+. It stunned the leadership; they were not prepared to deal with a group of well prepared ticked off women. The next day, all but one of the resolutions passed and the two that were not put forward by the president were introduced by me as coming from committee and with one minor correction they also passed. We all know that resolutions only reflect the sense of the body at that time and really don’t mean much. But to not allow the two topics to be discussed, it created a firestorm. It brought women together.

At the same time as the women were preparing ahead of time for the Convention, 4 brave, smart, organized women put together a coalition to run from the floor. Their campaign was an excellent example of how to run an insurgent race – they had a great platform; they were positive, they worked together.

The final victory was the election of all four candidates – President, 1st Vice President (NC’s own Martha Jenkins), 2nd Vice President and Treasurer. This was a complete rout of the existing leadership. The denial of the resolutions gave them momentum. If the two resolutions had been presented the slated candidates probably would have won.

The results of Oklahoma City inspired several women in various states to run against their leadership at their state conventions. 99% of them have been successful.

Change is coming at the top – no more pay to play, no more rigging of the nominating committee, no more domination by a small group of women. The new order is openness, transparency, organization, competency all designed to elect Republicans. It is going to be fun to watch them clean house. This is also a warning to the GOP (state, national and local) that the women are here; we no longer will be satisfied with a pat on the head; we want our place at the table.