The RNC literally has become a family affair for many of the local delegates who will represent the congressional districts covering Long Beach and Signal Hill.
From Congressional District 44, the delegates are Gregory Hetzer, Kristin Hetzer and Charles Moran.
From Congressional District 47, the delegates are Mari Barke, Margo Lynch and Joy Neugebauer.
Moran shared a laugh when he mentioned how his parents, Tom and Becky Moran, will be joining him in Cleveland and serving as alternates.
“The family that conventions together!” Moran joked.
He said he and his parents typically agree on politics. The 35-year-old professional political consultant defended Trump.
“I mean, there can be!the people who prognosticate in the coffee-klatch circle in Washington, DC and the editorial boards who!look at this as an anathema,” Moran said, “but at the end of the day, he’s winning elections. People were voting for him.”
The congressional-district level delegates for the Republican Party had to undergo an application process, and political experts like Moran would likely stand out when the Trump campaign had to determine who to send to Cleveland. He has had a career in political consulting and fundraising, but he has also notably served with the Log Cabin Republicans, a national advocacy group for LGBT Republicans.
He still is involved with the organization now, but previously, he headed the LA chapter of Log Cabin Republicans, worked as the chairman of the organization in California for four years and even served as its national spokesman for two years.
Moran says he’s never felt any discrimination in the GOP.
“In fact, in a lot of ways, it was actually easier to be gay in the Republican Party in California than it is to be a Republican in the LGBT community,” he said. Moran emphasized how the party is a natural choice for small-business owners who feel they should keep more of what they’ve earned, for others who believe they should defend themselves with their 2nd-amendment rights and those who want to make their own personal healthcare decisions.
Kristin and Gregory Hetzer are a married couple from San Pedro. They both work in the financial industry. Kristin Hetzer owns her own investment-advisory firm. She has attended the RNC as an alternate before, but this is her first time as a delegate. She is looking forward to the convention and expects the party won’t be splintered by other candidates who are vying for the official nomination at the RNC.
Hetzer has served as president of Peninsula Harbor Republicans and volunteered for Beach Cities Republicans and other campaigns for candidates who ran for state assembly and Congress. She’s even worked for Mitt Romney’s campaign, for which she served as an alternate.
“I really think it’s going to be a unified convention,” Hetzer said. “Our whole delegation from California is solidly behind Donald Trump.”
She may be right about California’s delegation. Tim Clark, the California director for the Trump campaign, described the state’s delegation as a “solid voting bloc” for the presumptive nominee.
“It’s a good place to be,” Clark said. “It’s a fun place to be.”
Clark was asked about the congressional districts that represent Signal Hill and Long Beach and other cities in the South Bay area and whether the fact that Democrats outnumber the Republicans in Long Beach is any concern. He didn’t acknowledge that there were any challenges to convincing Democrats and other potential independents.
“So, I think that Long Beach is exactly in our prime target area for [the] Reagan Democrat, that swing voter, [who] can deliver victory for Trump in California,” Clark said.
Mari Barke acknowledged that her family is also very firm in their support of the presumptive nominee. Her husband, Jeffrey Barke, is an alternate delegate along with their son Samuel, who just turned 18.
“There’s some committed people to the cause,” Mari Barke said. A former supporter of Ben Carson, she had spent long hours on the Iowa campaign before Carson backed out of the race and supported Trump.
She saw that both candidates had a lot in common, and she praised Trump’s intelligence.
“[He] wants to preserve our country and make it a better place for generations to come,” she said.
It does take a considerable amount of dedication to represent the area at the RNC. All delegates will be expected to pay their own way to make it to the RNC from July 18 to 21.
