Hello Cleveland!

Jeff and Laurie Grossman, Alternative Delegates

Local Republican Marrieds Are Convention-Bound

The Republican Party has just completed its wildest nominating process, well, since ever.

With Donald Trump striving to gather the full support of a party often divided by his candidacy, the GOP convention in Cleveland this July will be one of the most dramatic in history.When Jeff and Lauri Grossman fly out of PDX, bound for Cleveland Hopkins International, they’ll be headed right into the action. Both have been elected alternate delegates to the convention. If for any reason the elected delegates are unable to cast a vote, Jeff and Lauri will step up to cast votes as alternates.

“The mechanics of being elected a convention delegate are not all that complicated,” says Jeff, who serves as Vice Chair of the 1st Congressional District, “but were extremely compressed this cycle because of the early date of the national convention.”

Jeff explains that any registered Republican may run to be elected a national delegate to the convention. Every candidate submits a resume of their political achievements to the party for review. A vote of Precinct Committee Persons (PCPs) determines the slate of delegates.

For 2016, the Oregon Republican Party was allocated 28 delegates and 25 alternates to the National Convention. The three automatic delegates are Oregon Republican Party Chair Bill Currier, National Committeeman Solomon Yue, and outgoing Committeewoman Donna Cain, but all fifty other positions were up for grabs. This year’s Delegation Selection Convention was held June 3- 4 at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem.

“The competition for delegate slots was strong this time,” says Jeff.

Asked about the couple’s appraisal of the 2016 candidates, Jeff’s response recalls the difficult choices faced by conservatively-aligned voters. “This has been the most divisive campaign in modern history. The national media, always looking for greater profits through controversy, amplified the situation. Lauri and I believe the truth is a lot less scary than the reporting. But as a result, we were fairly late in deciding which candidate to support.”

Should they be called upon to cast votes as alternates, Jeff and Lauri will both be voting for Donald Trump.

The Grossmans will be in Cleveland for about a week, and neither has ever visited the Buckeye State’s second-largest city. They plan to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and pursue other activities as well. But the focus will definitely be on the political process, and growing optimism about the Party’s chances in November.

Though the primary season proved to be remarkably contentious, conflict in Cleveland could come from protestors outside the Quicken Loans Arena. Lauri says that she and Jeff are not worried about their physical safety.

“National political conventions are designated by the federal government as national security events,” says Lauri. “This designation triggers the availability of enormous resources. We will be required to take busses with armed escorts to and from the convention center.”

Lauri, who serves as Washington County Delegate to the State Central Committee and Washington County Event Chair, crunches the numbers on what a major party political convention means for the host city: “The 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa had an economic impact of $200 million in direct spending.”The Oregon Delegation will be housed in Akron, ‘the closest place that ORP Executive Director Margie Hughes could find that wasn’t $500/ night or more,” says Lauri. “When 50,000 people descend on a town the size of Cleveland, the hotel rates skyrocket. There will be about 1,300 delegates and 1,300 alternate delegates, many thousands of guests and press from all over the world.”

Jeff shares some final thoughts about the candidate who made history with his unprecedented rise to the Republican nomination.

“We are confident that the Republican Party will unite behind candidate Donald Trump. Those that delay in doing so will find themselves increasingly isolated. If for no other reason, the holdouts will sense this isolation and come to the table. While we anticipate some back room dealings and procedural maneuverings, we feel that the mood of the delegates is that such nonsense will not be tolerated. The party will come out of the convention far more united than the liberal media wants to see.”