MARA Members Win 17 Seats on Massachusetts GOP State Commitee
The Massachusetts Republican Party experienced a shakeup in the primary elections of March 6, 2012, thanks in large part to our members in the Massachusetts Republican Assembly.
The Boston Phoenix featured the changes in a story by David S. Bernstein, “The Massachusetts Republican Party is Undergoing Massive Disruption--Or Finding the Right Balance, Depending on Your View.” Bernstein traced the struggle of grassroots conservatives to reclaim their party and make party structures work for them on a local level and not just favor the “few elite, moderate, statewide candidates.”
The Phoenix noted that while Mitt Romney may have won the Massachusetts' national primary, “on the same ballot, Republicans also elected their state committee members: 80 in all, one man and one woman from each State Senate district. Thanks to retirements, redistricting, and some surprising upsets, more than 30 MassGOP state committee members were replaced — nearly half.”
The Massachusetts Republican Assembly was singled out as “one of the most active” among the grassroots groups: “MARA endorsed 36 candidates for state committee, 17 of whom won — including 14 new members. And four MARA board members are now on the MassGOP state committee.”
Among the MARA members elected to the committee were Marie Bergeron (district vice president), Mark Bergeron, Deborah Martell, Thomas McCarthy, Mike Potaski (Northeast Regional vice president), Sandra Martinez, Horace Mello (national committeeman), Kim Incampo, Steven Aylward (MARA state vice president), Joyce Kelly, Joe Ureneck, Timothy Sullivan (district vice president), and William Gillmeister. MARA state president David Kopacz, district president Linda Rapoza, and district president Sheila Mullen candidated for seats as well.
The new faces in the Massachusetts GOP are “not as old, or as rich, as has been the norm”--Bernstein observes that Horace Mello is a 23-year-old student at Bridgewater State-- and the NFRA is delighted that Mello, with MARA, are tweaking stereotypes.
We are so proud of MARA’s hard work for freedom and conservative principles. The work is indeed far from over, but we rejoice in MARA’s successfully making such a difference in Massachusetts!

The NFRA fights tirelessly to elect a strong, grassroots Republican Party leadership. The more they succeed, the more we’ll see real change in America.
As a famous Californian once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” That’s why, now more than ever, the National Federation of Republican Assemblies is looked upon as one of the preeminent guardians of Ronald Reagan’s legacy, providing a powerful, unwavering voice for conservative principles amid the pandemonium of modern politics. Their advocacy is vital to our party’s future.
When conservatives took back America’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, from the liberal leadership which had hijacked it, we used the same strategies and tactics that make the NFRA so potent a force today. Those strategies worked flawlessly then, and they’ll work as conservatives assert themselves in the Republican Party today.
The Republican Assemblies are truly a force for renewal within the Republican Party.
I am honored to stand with the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, one of the strongest voices for conservative values and a revitalized Republican Party in America.
The NFRA has never been more important than it is right now. We no longer have the luxury to nominate Republicans who, once elected, undermine the principles of individual freedom and limited government that define our party. Republican Assemblies across the country have kept the conservative movement alive and the future of our party and of our country ultimately depends on their success.
When I was a high school student, Phyllis Schlafly’s book, A Choice, Not an Echo, was an important influence on my political direction. Today I support the NFRA for that same reason. The Republican Party must be more than just a cheaper, slower echo of the Democrats: it must be a distinct choice, for conservative values and for a future of freedom. If you long for that choice, then you should join the NFRA.
We need more people like you [the Republican Assemblies] who truly believe in the Constitution, in liberty and in standing up to an establishment that believes in neither.
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