By Phil Orenstein
The main purpose of participating in the petitioning process is to secure ballot placement for our Republican candidates, but its importance goes far beyond ballot access. Direct voter contact is indispensable. It is the vital link through which our Republican neighbors learn about candidates, upcoming elections, club meetings, and the truth that too often is drowned out by misinformation from social networks and unreliable news sources. It is also at the heart of the work of a Republican county committeeman, what Dan Schultz famously called “the most powerful political office in America,” in explaining the Precinct Strategy.
During March, designating petitions for our local Republican candidates were circulated throughout Queens. Collecting signatures from Republican neighbors helps our candidates qualify for the ballot in the June 23 Primary Election and the November 3 General Election. Securing a place on the ballot is the first critical step toward electing Republicans to public office.
Now our candidates are calling for volunteers to circulate independent nominating petitions. Signature gathering is underway and continues through the filing deadline on May 26. Voters of any political party may sign. The independent ballot line, “Queens United,” gives our candidates an additional line on the ballot and gives voters another way to support Republican candidates committed to restoring common sense and a better quality of life.
Wearing my signature MAGA hat, I spent time in March collecting signatures in my election district for several local Republican candidates. Most voters knew me from years of campaigns, so getting signatures often came easily. Some greeted me by saying, “What do you want me to sign?” Others enthusiastically signed and called family members and neighbors to do the same, eager to help break the one party monopoly that is damaging our city and communities.
But some voters shared stories that were deeply troubling.
One voter told me her name was not listed at her polling place in recent past elections. She had recently switched her registration from Democrat to Republican and believed that may have caused the problem. Frustrated, she switched back to Democrat simply because she had never faced such an issue before when voting. I handed her a voter registration form to switch back to Republican and urged her to keep a copy for her records, then follow up directly with the Queens Board of Elections to confirm she was properly registered in the system. In a state where voter ID laws are opposed, Republicans must be proactive and prepared to protect their right to vote.
At another door, a Republican voter told me she arrived to vote and was informed that someone had already voted in her name. She was forced to cast an affidavit ballot and had no easy way of knowing whether her vote was counted. I urged her to document the incident as potential voter fraud, report it to the New York City and State Boards of Elections, and follow up to determine whether her ballot was counted and whether the matter was investigated. This was not the first time I have heard or witnessed accounts like this. It is yet another reason why the SAVE America Act must pass and why photo identification should be required to vote.
Several other formerly Republican voters told me they had switched to Democrat in order to vote in Democratic primaries for what they called the “lesser of two evils.” One voter I have known for years said she had been influenced by so called nonpartisan voter groups and deceptive mail campaigns funded by wealthy Democrats to persuade Republicans to change their party affiliation to Democrat. She told me she always votes Republican in the general election, but wanted to vote in Democrat primaries. I told her we are rebuilding a strong Republican Party in Queens, and we need her back. I handed her a voter registration form, and she asked for more to share with friends and members of her civic association.
That is why I always carry a go-bag with literature, copies of our club newsletter, and voter registration forms. You never know when a conversation at the door can turn into an opportunity to bring someone back into the Republican fold.
Unfortunately, too many Republicans have bought into the flawed idea that switching parties is a smart strategy. It is not. That mindset has weakened Republican enrollment, reduced competitiveness, dried up donations, diminished party influence, and even contributed to the elimination of Republican districts.
That is exactly what happened with the old 9th Congressional District in Queens. Bob Turner won a historic special election in 2011 and became the first Republican to represent the district in 90 years. But his victory was powered by a broad but temporary coalition, not by a reliable Republican enrollment base. When redistricting came in 2012, the district was erased from the map as Republican enrollment declined and Democrat registration surged. When party enrollment falls, we do not just lose elections. We risk losing the districts themselves.
This is why direct voter contact matters. Every conversation matters. Every registration changed back to Republican matters. Every signature matters. And as we’ve often repeated, “Voting matters and elections have consequences.”
The Democratic Party has been overtaken by a radical left that bears little resemblance to the party of our parents and grandparents generation. Republicans who switched parties hoping to influence Democratic primaries are not strengthening our cause. They are weakening the very party we need to build.
We must communicate with our fellow Republicans, especially those who became what we call DINO’s, Democrats In Name Only. We must win them back, encourage them to unite with us, and give them hope in the America First values that can revive Queens and help win elections.
There is no better place to do that than at the doorstep, face to face with our neighbors. Let us fight, let us engage, let us unite, and let us win. Republicans for Queens United starts with us.
Phil Orenstein is the president of the Queens Village Republican Club. Established in 1875, it is America’s oldest Republican Club. www.QVGOP.org
