HucksOnline Interviews Jeff Ward

• HucksOnline: You must be very pleased with the outcomes of the city elections that you were involved in? (7 of 7 of the Reagan Republican-endorsed candidates in 4 different cities won)
• Jeff Ward (president of the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans): Very much so. We were real happy to see the candidates that we supported win and win by such big margins. It reinforced our belief that active campaigning door-to-door and phone calling works the best.
• Question: Has the Reagan Republicans become an unstoppable force in Kootenai County?
• Jeff Ward: I’ve said it before there’s no such thing as an unstoppable force in politics. We were right with the issues this time. The electorate shared our sentiments about McEuen Field, pay increases in Coeur d’Alene, and tax increases in Post Falls. We’re successful because we were on the rights side of issues and communicated that effectively. We also had great candidates.
• Question: What chance does Mike Kennedy have in getting your endorsement in 2013?
• Jeff Ward: It depends on how he governs from now until the election. If he changes his mind and opens the opportunity for people to vote on McEuen Field and starts advocating conservative principals in the city, there’s a possibility. It’s probably not the most likely thing in the world. If you’d ask me in 2009 whether Ron Edinger had a chance to get our endorsement, I would have said no. (Reagan Republicans didn’t officially endorse Edinger, but they ran no opponent against him either.) Anything can happen in two years.

• HucksOnline: What’s your focus now?
• Jeff Ward: We’re looking at primary elections in 2012. I sincerely doubt that Reagan Republicans as organization will endorse anyone in presidential politics. There’s too many people on our board who support different presidential candidates. We’ll be looking at the primaries and expanding our organization. We’d like to see more members. We might get involved in opposing the repeal of Superintendent Luna’s Students Come First legislation.
• HucksOnline: Where do the Reagan Republicans stand in the Kootenai County Republican mix?
• Jeff Ward: The president of both Pachyderm clubs are members of our organization. We have great relationships with legislators of area. Two legislators (Bob Nonini and Steve Vick) are on our board. We have good relationships with county officials. Even though there are a lot of Republicans who aren’t members, they’re supportive of our activities.
• HucksOnline: If you were on the other side of a candidacy from the Reagan Republicans, how would you strategize to make your candidate successful?
• Jeff Ward: There’s no trick or a strategy. We worked harder than our opponents. If we have an opponent who works harder than us and communicates his position better, he will win. It’s not some complex recipe.