Committeeman Support Program
As Chairman, Aaron Del Mar does not believe in a top-down approach to leading the Cook County Republican Party. He believes it is the Chairman’s responsibility to support the Township and Ward Committeemen who are elected by Republican voters to lead the Party in their communities. CookCounty is too diverse to be led in a one-size-fits-all manner.
As a result, Chairman Del Mar developed and instituted the Committeeman Support Program. This first-of-its-kind program helps provide Committeemen and their organizations the tools and support they need to be successful as the front-line warriors of the Republican Party.
Dozens of Committeemen who have taken advantage of this program have seen significant assistance in building their organizations and enhancing their efforts. They have been provided websites and other tools via NationBuilder and have been trained on how to utilize these new tools. They have been assisted with publishing their contact information and setting up social media accounts so the public can see and participate in their efforts. They have received assistance planning, executing, and promoting their events. They have been set up to take contributions online so they can more effectively fundraise. And they have been financially supported, both with direct contributions and with the Party footing the bill for the above-mentioned tools.
Moving into the General Election, enrolled organizations will begin to see additional benefits in the way of funding for their organization. Funding will be tied directly to their score on the Committeeman Support Program Scorecard, which encourages participation and a healthy level of competition.
Cook County Election Integrity Program
While Chicago and CookCounty have been (in)famous nationwide for corruption and vote fraud, very little had been done to secure the vote and ensure election integrity. Under the leadership of Chairman Del Mar, the Cook County Republican Party and the Party’s Election Integrity Committee have taken major steps to combat this problem.
For the first time ever, thanks to our recruiting efforts, every polling place had a Republican Election Judge in the 2012 General Election. In the 2014 Primary Election, not only did every early voting site and polling place have a Republican Election Judge, but 1613 (out of 1673) precincts had verified Republican Election Judges administering the vote.
In addition to recruiting Republican Election Judges and verifying their Republican credentials, major progress has been made in improving the process itself. Republican Committeemen now have the ability to choose their Republican Election Judges for Early Voting sites, the City and County Clerks are now actively recruiting Republican Election Judges (we will of course verify each recruit’s Republican credentials), we have helped train Republican Election Judges to identify and prevent vote fraud, and we have made significant progress in stopping the Clerk’s from filling Republican Election Judge slots with Democrat Election Judges.
2012 Call Centers
Working directly with the Republican Renaissance PAC, Illinois House and Senate Republicans, and the Illinois Victory Program, Chairman Del Mar and the Cook County Republican Party coordinated multiple call centers throughout CookCounty in the 2012 General Election.
These call centers focused on reaching out to independent voters in nine targeted swing House and Senate Districts with a targeted script. Over 100,000 calls were made via these call centers.
Fundraising
The initiatives put in place by Chairman Del Mar and the Cook County Republican Party leadership team have required significant resources to execute successfully. Since Chairman Del Mar’s election two years ago, the Party has raised over $85,000, significantly more than it had been raising previously. The Party has publicized its intention to raise at least $50,000 for the Committeeman Support Program and has already secured pledges for at least that much.
Coalitions and Leadership Team
As the first ever minority to hold the position of Chairman of the Cook County Republican Party, Del Mar has made it a priority to recruit individuals into the Republican Party that had been previously ignored. He has recruited a diverse and geographically-balanced team to lead the CountyParty, and has developed outreach programs to reach out to the Cook County Hispanic and African American communities.
Communications
In addition to assisting Township and Ward Republican organizations with increasing their public awareness, Chairman Del Mar has ensured the CountyParty is actively publicizing the Republican Party in CookCounty. The Party sends out regular emails, posts social media updates, and announces news via the newly-redeveloped website. The Party also sends out regular press releases, which are carried by local and regional news outlets throughout the County, and the Chairman frequently appears as a commentator on news programs and in articles. In this capacity, Del Mar has promoted Republican principles and stood up for what is right, especially when he called out a Republican Committeeman for supporting Democrats and several Republican candidates and officials for engaging in underhanded smear campaigns against their fellow Republicans.
