Are you a Republican running for office or considering running for office in Butte County, California?  If so keep reading, because we are going to explain in this article how to get support and perhaps a candidate endorsement from the Butte County Republican Party (BCGOP).

 

To begin, the BCGOP do not meet year-round.  We meet from September until June and take a 2 month break every summer.  We have a Central Committee of officers and delegates who meet once a month, ten months every year.  Officers and delegates from the BCGOP take responsibility for running the Party throughout the year, planning events, fundraising, helping candidates, and participating in California Republican Party and National Republican Party events.  

 

Butte County is divided up into districts, and there are a set number of Central Committee members that can be made delegates for each district in the county.  If the district you live in has the maximum number of delegates in place already, then if you are interested in being a delegate you will need to wait until there is an available space in order to become a voting member of the Central Committee and a delegate to the conventions for the GOP.  Some districts in the county are full of these representatives, while others have spaces available.  Contact the Party Chair by email or phone to get more information about this, but you will need to show up to the meetings, get to know the volunteers, and the Party Chair in order to build the rapport necessary to build the trust.  IE, we don’t hand over delegate positions to complete strangers.

 

Everything involving the BCGOP is done by volunteers, as there are no paid positions for the work done by the Party. You must get in touch with BCGOP if you want to get endorsed, because our volunteers don’t have time to seek you out.  There may be dozens of candidates in any election year in Butte County, so it is incumbent upon you to make contact with the Butte County Republican Party, attend at least a few meetings so we can know who you are, and seek support.

 

BCGOP do not have a headquarters year-round, rather we only have an election headquarters during election years where a HQ is necessary.  Headquarters are staffed 100% by volunteers.  If we had an opportunity to get an inexpensive or free rent for a headquarters we would consider remaining open year-round.

 

If you wish to get endorsed by the Butte County Republican Party, the first thing you need to do is contact the Party Chair and then show up at our next meeting.  The Republicans in our Party are very friendly and will welcome you.  If you are a complete stranger to the people involved in the BCGOP, then you should come to the meetings, rub elbows with the people in the Party, and get to know them.  It helps if you also show up to events, since these are opportunities to further familiarize yourself with the volunteers in the Party who make things happen in our area.  

 

The BCGOP will have meetings at a local restaurant and try to move the meetings around the county and have our meetings in not only Chico, but also Paradise, Oroville, and beyond.  We do not have a set meeting place, which is why you’ll need to make contact in order to get emails and texts with information on the meetings.  Since we have these meetings at local restaurants you can decide whether you want to purchase a dinner.  Many of the Party members will show up 30 to 60 minutes before the meeting, order a dinner and beverage, then sit around and talk to one another.  Since we really want folks in Butte County to participate, any Republican is welcome.  Showing up early and talking to one another is one of the ways candidates get to know those who attend Party meetings.  We are not exclusive.  

 

As we’ve said, the BCGOP are not an exclusive organization.  All Republicans are welcome.  If you want to get support and a possible endorsement from the local Party, then it is up to you to show up and put yourself into the mix in order to let us get to know you.  You can contact us by using the information for telephone and email at the top of every page of this website.  Once you have registered as a candidate with the Butte County Elections Office, then you can inquire whether you can get an endorsement.  You have to ask in order to be endorsed.  You can’t expect the BCGOP to hunt candidates down all over the county in order to invite them to get an endorsement.  So don’t be shy.  We need for you to make contact with the Party and pester us for an endorsement early on in your campaign.  We usually don’t endorse until 2 or 3 months prior to an election, but once you’ve made your decision to run it would be wise to make that known to the Party.

 

Occasionally we have a race where one Republican is running against another Republican.  Political races are stressful and difficult.  BCGOP try to be as supportive as possible to all Republican candidates in our area.  Do not be offended if BCGOP will not endorse you over another Republican candidate.  Conversely, we sometimes have a situation where there is more than one Republican candidate, but one of them has shown up at the meetings and events, shaken hands with each person in the Party at some point, and let volunteers get to know them.  If we never hear a word from that candidate’s opponent it may be possible for the Republican who stepped forward to be known by us to get an endorsement.  When you run for office in Butte County as a Republican you should not be surprised if we don’t endorse you if we’ve never or rarely met you.

 

If you want to run for office as a Republican in Butte County this is what you need to do:

We hope this information will make it easier for Republicans to run for office in Butte County, California.