LAURINBURG — The Scotland County Republican Party recently elected a new slate of officers, including a new chairman in Joe Plitt.
The Republican Party here has been led for much of the past decade by Mark Schenck, who decided to take a step back. However, he will remain active in the local GOP and was elected as a vice-chairman along with Ulysses Thomas.
Also recently elected was Joe Patton as secretary and Bev Mills as treasurer.
“It’s a fairly new board, but I’m excited about the future,” Plitt said this week.
Looking toward that future, Plitt said there are things he’d like to accomplish.
“I believe we need to do more community outreach and let the public know who we are,” he said. “Our main role is to get Republicans elected to office, but we also become more involved.
“We’ll continue to look for good people who want to make a positive difference,” Plitt said. “But you’ll also start seeing us out there more often.”
While that was Plitt’s biggest goal, he also said there is an equally important goal.
“The foundation is there (for the Scotland County GOP), but now we need to start growing,” he said. “It will be my hope that we can begin to get some of the younger Republicans involved because, let’s face it, our group is aging.”
Plitt came to Scotland County as a transplant from Baltimore in 2016.
“So I’m still learning people, places and how things work,” he said. “But everyone has been very welcoming.”
The Scotland County Republican Party will continue to meet on the last Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Republican Party headquarters. Those meetings will still open with a hot dog supper at 6:30 p.m. before the meeting starts.
Plitt did say the meetings may soon include speakers from throughout local government and other areas of the county.
W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or cvincent@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.
