Interview with Ron Nehring: Native Long Islander Leads California Republican Party

Interview by Raymond J. Keating

February 9, 2009

Did you know that the head of the California Republican Party is a Long Island native? Ron Nehring was born and raised on Long Island, and now he is the chairman of the Republican Party in the nation’s largest state. 

The Long Island Sentinel had the opportunity to interview Nehring last week.

Sentinel: Give us some background on your Long Island years? Did you grow up on Long Island? If so, where? Where did you go to school?

Ron Nehring: My parents settled on Long Island after emigrating from Germany. A small grocery store in Islip Terrace was owned and operated by a German couple, and they gave my parents their first jobs in America. They later bought their first and only house in Islip, so I went to Islip Public Schools followed by SUNY Stony Brook.

Sentinel: Do you still have family on Long Island?

Ron Nehring: No, sadly my parents are deceased and I'm an only child.

Sentinel: What did you major in at Stony Brook?

Ron Nehring: I was a Political Science major. While a Poli Sci degree is helpful for background and theoretical information on how government should work, the real skills I learned in organization and communication came from attending programs sponsored by the conservative Leadership Institute in my college years. I also served as the president of the College Republican club at Stony Brook for over three years, giving me practical experience in building an organization and working in local campaigns in Brookhaven and Southampton.

Sentinel: When exactly did you become active Republican politics?

Ron Nehring: In my second week on campus, I found a flyer promoting the SUNY Stony Brook College Republicans. It was the midst of the 1988 presidential campaign and we worked for then-Vice President George Bush against the hapless Michael Dukakis. It was my first practical experience in political campaigns.

Sentinel: After college, take us on a bit of your work/political history up to California?

Ron Nehring: After graduating I went to Washington, D.C., and worked for a number of conservative groups, including the National Center for Public Policy Research and U.S. Term Limits. In 1996, I was offered a position as the executive director of the Republican Party of San Diego County, so I moved across the country and managed the day-to-day operations for the Republican Party in one of the largest counties in America. Later, I went on to manage part of a statewide campaign in 1998 before returning to Washington, D.C., to work for Americans for Tax Reform. In 2000, I returned to California, and several months later was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego County.

Sentinel: Take us on your journey to becoming the head of the California GOP? How long have you been party chairman?

Ron Nehring: In July 2001, I was elected chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego County and committed myself to building the county party as a powerful political organization using the same techniques I learned from (and later taught at) the Leadership Institute. A few months later, I attended my first state party convention and the first meeting of the state party's County Chairmen's Association. After enduring that meeting and several others, I opted to run for president of the County Chairmen's Association with the goal of turning it into a vehicle for the sharing of information and best practices among the county Republican leaders. After two years, I became the party’s vice chairman, and later, chairman.

Sentinel: Have to ask: What’s your relationship with Governor Schwarzenegger, and given his background, do you wind up meeting any other interesting Hollywood people? Also, many of us have the impression that there are very few Republicans in Hollywood – is that perception correct? Who are some high-profile Hollywood GOPers?

Ron Nehring: During the 2008 campaign, we saw many Hollywood Republicans step forward and campaign actively with Senator McCain and other Republican candidates. “Friends of Abe” is a new support group that includes many prominent Hollywood Republicans and has rapidly gained attention. Gary Sinese and Jon Voight have been among the most prominent.

Sentinel: What is the outlook for California’s state budget battle, in particular, with taxes? Do you get involved in the budget fray at all?

Ron Nehring: Our Republican officials in Sacramento have advocated tough fiscal reforms for years, including a cap on state spending, limiting debt, and reducing taxes to stop the flight of residents to nearby states like Arizona and Nevada. Now, with the economy in trouble, California’s budget situation is disproportionately worse because these Republican calls for reform were ignored. Republicans are today fighting to include these reforms in any resolution on the budget situation so to protect future generations from repeating this experience.

Sentinel: What’s your outlook for Republicans in California? Recent times have not been great, so what is your strategy for Republican growth and success in the state?

Ron Nehring: Republicans have a great opportunity in 2010 as Americans seek to restore some balance to Washington after what will be two years of out-of-control Democrat governance. In recent decades, the president’s party has lost an average of 23 House seats and 2 Senate seats in their first mid-term election. This means Republicans will likely have the wind at our backs instead of in our face. Our challenge is to build a party organization powerful enough to take full advantage of this trend. This means focusing on the core tasks of registering new Republican voters and turning them out using a combination of old and new technologies.

It’s also important for Republicans to make clear what our party stands for. We have to answer the question of how people’s quality of life is improved by putting Republican ideas into action. Because of Democrat majorities in places like Albany and Sacramento, the best opportunities to show the benefits of Republican leadership are in local government.

Sentinel: Do you follow New York politics at all any more? If so, any thoughts or advice for New York Republicans?

Ron Nehring: We built our Republican voter turnout program in San Diego County based on what I saw in Suffolk County in general and Islip in particular, with Republican committee members responsible for turning out the vote in their neighborhood by visiting their Republican neighbors in person. It’s a powerful system that can be restored and augmented with new technology in order for Republicans to increase turnout and roll back some Democrat gains.

We also have an opportunity to build and expand the ranks of Republican volunteer organizations – groups of Republican volunteers who come together and are kept active in between elections. Our party is one of ideas, and there are thousands of people available who would participate in party programs if invited. 

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