By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Thursday, the newly elected Executive Board of the College Republican Federation of Alabama (CRFA) voted unanimously to approve a resolution supporting the Alabama Republican Party and the party’s strong support for the traditional definition of marriage.
The group also vowed to support the Alabama Republican Legislature in maintaining and growing the super-majority they presently hold. The decision was made during the first Executive Board meeting of the new administration that was elected on Saturday, March 1, 2014, at the CRFA annual convention held at Troy University this year.
The resolution states that the College Republican Federation of Alabama supports the Alabama Republican Party’s and the Republican National Committee’s platform and will continue to stand in support of traditional American and Alabamian conservative values.
The College Republican Federation of Alabama is mending fences with the Alabama Republican Party leadership after a divisive battle over gay marriage last year that degenerated to the point that outspoken conservative Christians within the Party had introduced a resolution to remove dissenting Republicans from the ALGOP Steering Committee at the ALGOP Summer Meeting in response to comments supporting gay marriage by then CRFA Chairwoman, Stephanie Petelos.
Last summer Petelos told the Alabama Political Reporter:
“In general…the young people coming to the party now are more libertarian-leaning than traditional republicans with conservative ideals. In the last year to 18 months, the tone of the discussions of the young people of the party has changed a lot…[in the past] we would be whispering in the corner hoping no one would hear what we were saying…and stop talking when someone else would enter the conversation…The more I spoke with younger people and especially those under 25….we didn’t want the older members getting angry at us, we didn’t want to stir people up,”
The resolution was rejected as too extreme by the Alabama Republican Executive Committee; but there remains some hurt feelings on both sides of this Summer’s bitter debate.
The new leadership at CRFA pledged to work with the ALGOP and the Alabama Republican Legislature of Alabama in an effort to create a grassroots network of college students in order to help Republican candidates get elected on every level of government.
This marks a drastic change in direction for the College Republican Federation of Alabama, which had previously removed its association with the ALGOP from its bylaws last Fall. The newly elected Executive Board of the College Republican Federation of Alabama announced plans to restore that relationship and work closely with the Alabama Republican Party and the Alabama Republican Legislature in many areas such as; scheduling voter registration drives on campus, expanding chapters on campuses around the state, educating all college students on the critical issues we face as a nation, and developing a new statewide network of campaign volunteers.
The resolution reads: “Herein, the College Republican Federation of Alabama vows to work with the Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) and to support the platform of the ALGOP and the RNC along with the traditional, conservative, American and Alabamian values that have made us the ‘Best Party on Campus’ since the CRFA was founded. The CRFA will work with the ALGOP and the Alabama Republican Legislature in order to get Republicans elected on all levels of government, maintain and grow the Republican supermajority, educate college students on critical issues facing the nation, develop a statewide network of campaign volunteers, and promote the principles of the Republican Party.”
The Political Director at College Republican Federation of Alabama and Vice Chairman at West Alabama Young Republicans Dalton Dismukes posted the announcement of the new policy on Facebook.
