City Councilman Eric Ulrich Wins Re-election
Mix together two cigar smokers, George Greco and myself, and two community oriented columnists
from the Wave, Beverly Baxter and Stuart Mirsky, add in plenty of friends and neighbors and you
get the winning recipe for the Rockaway Republicans, a group that formed back in March 2004 to
re-establish a Republican presence in our neighborhood and support the re-election of
then-President George W. Bush.
On our club's web site, www.rockawayrepublicans.com (see history - 1/7/05 "Leadership Blues"), we
tell the the story of our up-hill battle to win support and recognition for a Republican rebirth in
Rockaway, a struggle that, surprisingly, we often had to wage even within our own party! Without
going into details, we ultimately came to see that we needed to replace the then-existing Republican
District Leaders with people who had fresh ideas and energy and to elect County Committee
members to represent Rockaway who actually lived in Rockaway!
We met young Eric Ulrich back in the summer of 2004. He soon became president of a small,
officially recognized Republican club in South Ozone Park and rapidly became an ally and friend in
our club's quest for its own official recognition. Eric initially ran an unsuccessful campaign to unseat
our past District Leaders and, despite his loss back then, refused to give up, reminding us that he
had time on his side. And so he did. When the next election cycle for choosing District Leaders
rolled round, Eric turned to us to find him a running mate as he renewed his quest to win the
leadership of the 23rd Assembly District. We met with club member Jane Deacy and encouraged
her to run with him. The rest is history.
At the last debate in the recent race for City Council, Councilman Ulrich's opponent was asked for
the single word he could think of to summarize Eric's candidacy. He responded with two: Jane
Deacy! Nothing could have been clearer.
When you link a great candidate, who understands and cares about local issues and has the skills
needed to run and win political campaigns, to a highly visible and proactive District Leader, add in a
little luck in terms of timing, and plenty of careful planning, you get the kind of positive results
we've just seen in this election!
Many thanks to the voters in our 32nd Council District who picked substance over party line this
year. We can all take a moment to reflect on this victory and feel good about the fact that we've
re-elected City Councilman Eric Ulrich to a full four year term in his own right.
In the process we've learned a thing or two about politics, too. Hopefully, the larger Republican
Party has also learned a few things from Eric's stylish and well run campaign! With Eric
representing us and Jane leading in the 23rd AD we now have a winning combination, one we can
plan on taking forward as we continue to rebuild and restore political choice in our communities once
more.
Tom Lynch Pres. Rockaway Republicans
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