By Jeff Dufour, TRTC Chairman

Members of the Tewksbury Republican Town Committee (TRTC) were among more than 1,500 delegates that attended the Massachusetts Republican State Convention on Saturday May 21 in Springfield.

The convention agenda began with opening ceremonies followed by administrative and business items. The delegates elected the officers to oversee the day’s proceedings and were then treated to several enthusiastic and motivating speeches from nationally recognized guests. The featured speakers at the convention included: Byron Donalds, current U.S. Congressman from Florida; Thomas Homan, former acting director of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement; and David Bereit, founder of the 40 Days for Life.

The focus of the afternoon was the nominating and balloting for the endorsement of candidates for statewide offices by the Massachusetts GOP. This was of special interest to the members of the Tewksbury RTC as they have participated in the candidates’ campaigns during the past months in various capacities, including hosting a signature drive in April where they collected nomination signatures for several candidates.

The nomination format consisted of three speeches in support of each candidate: the nomination, the second, and the candidate’s speech. Delegate balloting was by a voice vote for the following uncontested offices: Anthony Amore for Massachusetts State Auditor (amore2022.com), Rayla Campbell for Secretary of the Commonwealth (raylaforma.com) and Jay McMahon for Attorney General (attorneyjaymcmahon.com).

Each delegate was polled individually for the contested races of Lieutenant Governor and Governor, and their votes were tallied. Leah Cole Allen (leahcoleallen.com) received 70% of the votes cast and defeated Kate Campanale (kateforlg.com) in the Lieutenant Governor’s race, and Geoff Diehl (geoffdiehl.com) received 71% of the votes and defeated Chris Doughty (chrisforma.com) in the Governor’s race.

Geoff Diehl and Leah Cole Allen earned the endorsement of the Massachusetts Republican Party by receiving the majority of the convention delegate’s votes, including 90% of the Tewksbury RTC votes. Kate Campanale and Chris Doughty assured themselves a spot on the September primary ballot by receiving more than the minimum requirement of 15% of delegate votes cast.

It looks to be an exciting year for Republicans, including here in Tewksbury. The Republican party has assembled an impressive slate of candidates for the district and statewide offices and the Tewksbury RTC will be promoting and supporting these individuals throughout their campaigns. If you would like to participate in the campaigns for any of the candidates or to learn more about the Tewksbury Republican Town Committee, please contact the TRTC through their website (tewksburygop.org) or on Facebook (tewksburyGOP).

Jeff Dufour is the recently elected chair of the Tewksbury Republican Town Committee.