This morning’s Detroit News reports that Republican House District 37 candidate Paul Welday, who lost to State Representative-elect Vicki Barnett, is one of many folks now on the radar for the state GOP chair. Current chair Saul Anunzis hasn’t made a formal announcement, but appears to be looking for a way out.
Welday supporters got the news in an e-mail yesterday:
“Like others, I have been approached to run for Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party at the February state convention. I am honored to be considered. We have a great opportunity to elect a much-needed Republican Governor and recoup the ground we lost in Lansing and Washington, DC. I am confident we will have the right environment for victory and we must be ready to help our candidates take full advantage of the prospects that may present themselves.”
A former Oakland County GOP chair, Welday urged Republicans to avoid playing the blame game:
“However, our reality is that we must all own this defeat. We must learn from it. We must take away lessons from an election where we failed to reach key constituencies necessary for our Party to succeed. We must now resist the temptation to point fingers at one and other, but instead reach out and seek answers to what we might have done differently.”
If only he had been in that frame of mind during the campaign.
–Joni Hubred-Golden
Publisher, The Enterprise
