It's Official: Farmington's Allen McCulloch Announces He's Running for NM GOP Chairman!

In a Christmas letter sent to Republican supporters around the state. former U.S. Senate Candidate and Farmington Doctor Allen McCulloch has formally announced he's entering the election to become the State Republican Party Chairman.

Today, I am asking for your support in becoming the next Chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico.

We are at a cross-road of our Republican future. We can cease on the opportunity to come together and re-build a stronger more responsive party or sink further into irrelevancy.

Business as usual, will not work! We must begin by building a fundamentally sound organization, from the ground up.

As your next chairman, I am committed to ensuring our county chairs, activist's and legislators have a seat at the New Mexico Republican table. I believe we first have to be organized as a party to defend our values in Santa Fe. In preparation for the legislative session, I am proposing that county chairs develop legislative caucuses that will be prepared to respond to upcoming legislation. These county caucuses will be part of the state Republican Legislative Affairs Committee. Today is the time to start!

Second, we must start now on the development of our ground game in preparation for the 2010 midterm election. One of the most pressing issues that will face our party will be legislative redistricting in 2011. We must not allow a Democrat majority to exist in two years. The old saying that all politics are local is my commitment. We must Stop the Progressive Democrat organizations from making anymore gains in Santa Fe.

McCulloch believes:

Together, we can focus on building a strong party by ensuring every county has the tools they need to build strong efforts in:

• Voter Registration
• Strong ward / precinct organizations
• Candidate recruitment and training
• Meaningful communication from the state GOP

I have travelled to every corner of the state and have developed many strong working relationships. I have been given a commitment by our outgoing members of congress that they will help in the rebuilding of our party. I am asking for your support in electing me the next Chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico.

United we win!
Allen McCulloch

McCulloch Makes His Move To Chair NM GOP.

Doctor Allen McCulloch, from Farmington, is making his move to take over leadership of The Republican Party of New Mexico.

He says "it’s time for a dramatic change in the leadership and direction" of the GOP.

We received a copy of a letter he sent to editors at the ABQJournal.

Speculation has been brewing that he wants to take over the chairmanship of the GOP in New Mexico after Allen Weh's term expires early next year.

McCulloch, if you don't recall, was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate and lost in a statewide election to Democrat Jeff Bingaman in 2006.

In the Letter to the Editor, McCulloch criticizes Weh, the lack of resources for losing candidates, and says it will take "dedicated leadership" to rebuild the party.

If this utter electoral disaster has taught us anything, it is that our state party is in desperate need to new leadership and vision. Our party needs the kind of change that does not pit Republican against Republican, retaliate against its own members in the Legislature, or turn a deaf ear and blind eye toward building strong county organizations.

We must now start a process of rebuilding – so we have the ability to not only defendexisting Republican turf, but also pick up what ground has been lost. We must all come together to achieve this vision.

McCulloch pulls no punches when writing about the party's current organization:

When we lose sight of the grassroots, as our current leadership has, we become out of touch with the thoughts and needs of everyday New Mexicans. Before we can even consider the 2010 election, the Republican Party of New Mexico must make a critical decision as it chooses its leaders in 2009 – will we stay with the same failed leadership of the past four years, or will we embrace change?

He also lays down his vision for rebuilding the party at a grassroots level, a strategy implented by Democrats in all 33 counties:

Over the past several years, the state Republican Party has turned its focus away from building an effective ground game and has become far too content with stagnation at the grassroots level. This must come to an end. A strong grassroots base for our party is the only way we can facilitate the registration of new voters, the
recruitment of solid candidates, and the engineering of an effective get out the vote effort.

They say “all politics is local,” and a major aspect of strengthening the grassroots will be getting our party engaged at every level. The state GOP must also interface more with our legislators, mayors, commissioners and city councilors – from Farmington to Hobbs, Reserve to Santa Rosa.

McCulloch finishes his letter with an optimistic note:

With hard work, dedicated leadership, and a strong vision, the Republican Party can move forward and again rise up as a relevant player in New Mexico’s political discourse. But we must first embrace significant, across-the-board change to move our party forward – regaining the ground that was lost this year, and leading us to victory in 2010 and beyond.