I have tremendously enjoyed representing Iowa Republicans these past few days in Tampa at the Republican National Convention. I have had the chance to meet with other leaders from around the country and discuss the best ways we can grow and strengthen our Party heading into the most important election in our lifetimes. I would like to congratulate Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan on officially being nominated yesterday at the convention. It was exciting to be on the floor with thousands of excited and energetic delegates listening to all the speakers. The floor was packed and everyone especially enjoyed hearing from Ann Romney last night. I think we can all agree that Mrs. Romney will make an excellent first lady. She clearly connects with people and I hope that she will return to Iowa in the near future.
The Iowa Delegation was excited to have our very own Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds do the roll call last night for the states as Convention Secretary. We were also excited to get to see John Archer on the national stage when he addressed the convention yesterday. Both of them represented Iowa well!
We have had tremendous success with fundraising around our events in Tampa. The Republican Party of Iowa has raised over $100,000 from convention related activities. Thank you to all who participated in this success.
The "First in the Nation" status of Iowa came under attack at this year's convention right out of the gate in the Rules Committee with a proposal by Washington DC delegate Ben Ginsberg that would have eliminated Iowa's carve-out for having an early caucus without penalty. It was my honor to help defeat this proposal and keep Iowa first.
Two important items that passed concerning Iowa are as follows:
Rule 16(c)(1):
"No primary, caucus, convention, or other process to elect, select, allocate, or bind delegates to the national convention shall occur prior to March 1 or after the second Saturday in June in the year in which a national convention is held. Except Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada may conduct their processes no earlier than one month before the next earliest state in the year in which a national convention is held."
Rule 17:
"If any state or state Republican Party violates Rule 16(c)(1) of the Rules of the Republican Party with regard to a primary, caucus, convention or other process to elect, select, allocate, or bind delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention by conducting its process prior to the latest Tuesday in February, the number of delegates to the national convention shall be reduced to nine (9) plus the members of the Republican National Committee from that state, and the corresponding alternate delegates shall be reduced to nine (9)."
This is a severe penalty that will prevent jumping ahead.
I was glad to see pass what is perhaps some of the strongest language protecting the Iowa Caucuses that has ever passed at a Republican National Convention and I would like to thank everyone who came together, including delegates and RNC members from other states who helped to make this happen.
Another rule was proposed that would have allowed a presidential candidate to disavow delegates bound to him. This would have had the effect of limiting the grassroots' ability to become involved in the convention process and getting to have their voice heard on important business that is conducted at conventions, such as the platform of the Republican Party. I was afraid that this would have limited participation in the convention process by Republicans who aren't politically or monetarily connected but deserve to have their voice be heard. I was pleased to see so many people stand up for the grassroots activists- the people who make our Party strong- and remove this rule
There are still lots of exciting things to come in Tampa and I hope you are enjoying watching the Convention with friends and family back in Iowa. Don't forget to check on our website for updates from Tampa the rest of the week.
To Victory,
A.J. Spiker
Chairman, Republican Party of Iowa
