Changing of the guard
Republicans choose new leader
By JARED PUTNAM Union Sentinel Editor

Photo Illustration/Jared Putnam Chuck Honaker was elected chairman of the Union County Republican Party at the party's bi-annual meeting.

Chuck Honaker has been elected Chairman of the Union County Republican Party, following a 10 month period in which he served as Secretary, and more recently, as First Vice Chairman.

"This is something that I believe in," Honaker said. "I'm excited about the party in this county. I think there are a lot of people that are fed up with things that have been going on in the country, both Republican as well as Democrat."

Asked what his goals are, Honaker cited the basic growth of the party in Union County as the primary objective. "I want maximum involvement in the party," Honaker said, explaining that he believes that Union County is on the cusp of becoming a Republican County.

"I know there are a lot of people who haven't been coming to the meetings. We [need to] get the people to believe in the Republican Party and the principles it stands for, to start coming out and realizing that they have a voice to be heard."

The newly elected chairman said that he hopes to create a database of Republicans in the area, complete with email addresses and phone numbers in order to keep party members informed of events.

Honaker acknowledged that while there have been a number of issues that have contributed to preventing the party from enjoying any significant success in Union County in recent years, he is only concerned with the future. "I want to look ahead," Honaker said. "I'm tired of people looking back. I want to focus on the positives and the future. That's what is important, not the past."

In regards to how he will help bring about a brighter future for the party here, Honaker said he sees his role as more of a mediator than a leader.

"It's not the Republican Party according to Chuck Honaker," he joked. "I look at my position as chairman as a mediator for everyone else in the party, to guide and direct the proceedings. I want input from people, and then for us to decide as a party which things we are going to focus on and accomplish. I'm just going to utilize what I think are some of my attributes to try to do some healing in the party."

Honaker said he aims to create an atmosphere of openness to everyone's ideas. "I'm going to look at it as everybody has a right to give input on the policies we have. I know there are a lot of people out there who have a lot of good ideas. Any time you get a large group of people together you are going to have some differences. No one is going to agree 100 percent on everything. But I think everyone has something positive they can add to the meetings."

The chairman expects that through the growth, the party will be able to field a better selection of viable candidates to campaign for county positions. "From a larger group, there is more choice on who you can put forward as candidates," Honaker said. "We would definitely like to see changes, to get a foot in the door that seems like it has been closed on us forever."