Assistant District Attorney Joey Stevens is the new St. Clair Republican Party Chairman

Joey Stevens, St. Clair County Republican Chairman, said that he and his party are doing everything they can to grow the GOP brand in the area and also reach out to young residents to get them involved in politics.

Stevens, who has been overseeing the St. Clair Republican efforts since January, said that his whole focus is “to get more people involved; young and old alike.”

The St. Clair Republicans have started growing their presence online by starting StClairGop.com, where Stevens said that meeting notices and general information can be accessed in the coming weeks.

“I want to do everything we can to grow the party,” he said. “I like different perspectives. I believe that the more people we have participating, that the party will be healthier.”

The St. Clair GOP is also starting a Young Republicans sector within its ranks. Its focus is to embrace those who are between the ages of 18 and 40 who want to be a part of the party. “It’s geared toward college students and younger, working-aged people,” Stevens said.

There has also been a Teenage Republican section added to the Republican efforts that is aimed at high schoolers that want to become involved in civic life. “The more young people we have involved in the area involved, the better. I want a robust, active party and that’s what I am working towards,” Stevens said.

In last November’s election, St Clair County voted predominately Republican. But Stevens said that growing St Clair’s grassroots connections is part of strengthening not only local GOP efforts, but strengthening the party as a whole.

“We’ve had exponential growth in our party here since the early 1990s,” Stevens said. “I just want to build on that and continue the hard work done by past chairmen of this party. I want to work very hard to continue their good work and the work of our other party members.”

He talked about Republicanism on the national level. “I think the last election cycle—though it didn’t happen in this county and state, per se—that we just need to reaffirm who we are. When we talk about the big national picture, particularly in this last election, we got away from who we are as a party. We are the party of lower taxes and less government; a party that embraces the fact that we are a country based on Judeo-Christian values. We are for free market economics. We’re a party that supports the rights of the unborn. We support people who work hard, not people who line up for government bailouts. We support hard work not the narcotic of welfare. We are for strong, robust national defense and committed to protecting the homeland and fighting enemies. We’re Republicans and that’s what we do.”

Stevens said that from the Republican perspective, that the way to grow the economy is to let people keep more of their money “as opposed to the government taking money and redistributing it into senseless government programs. We are for fiscal responsibility, less government and less government spending.”

He noted that upholding the Second Amendment is also something that area residents should know that Republicans always have in their sights. “We’re the party that supports the honest citizen being able to keep and bare arms.”

The St. Clair Republicans meet every third Thursday of each month at various locations throughout the county. “My goal is to move the meetings throughout the county where everyone who is interested would have an opportunity to attend and take part in our activities.”

Giving back to the community is something that Stevens said his party takes great pride in. The Republican’s big push to give back in the coming months is the GOP’s Spring Bass Tournament that will be held on April 11 at Lakeside Landing.

“Our goal as a party is to be responsive to the needs of younger county residents and this is one way that we choose to give back,” he said of the tournament, which provides scholarships for graduating seniors throughout the county. Since they have been hosting the tournament, the St. Clair Republicans have given away over $100,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors. “That’s something we’re very proud of and hope to continue to be doing for a long time,” Stevens said.

Also this spring and summer Stevens hopes to continue with the Republican voter registration efforts and keep people apprised of where the party is heading in the future.

He added, “I’m really interested in growing our party from top to bottom, particularly with young people. I think it’s important that young folks get involved at this critical point in our history because they’re going to be the Republican Party of tomorrow. The more young people we have interested and involved now, the better off we’ll be. The more people we have involved in the dialog the better.”