WILMINGTON — Robeson County’s Republican Party chairman received the Robert Rector award for most outstanding county chairman in North Carolina during the NCGOP State Convention held this past weekend.
Phillip Stephens dedicated the award to rural counties in the state where Republicans have long been the underdogs. He later addressed the convention and spoke about the progress of conservative initiatives in Robeson County. He said the real heroes of county progress are the volunteers who were long jokingly referred to as being so few they could meet in a phone booth.
Kelly Ann Conway, an advisor to President Donald Trump, spoke at a luncheon. She noted Robeson County’s shift from Democrat to Republican during the November General Election during her remarks and said the president is aware of the changing landscape of North Carolina politics as she quoted Robeson County’s election return numbers.
Robeson County voter registration has shifted from Democrat to unaffiliated at a much faster rate than the rest of the state, while GOP rates have risen as well. The local party has a county commissioner, David Edge, and for the first time since Reconstruction a Republican state senator, Danny Britt.
Stephens writes recurring column for The Robesonian.
Also during the convention, Robin Hayes was re-elected NCGOP chairman.
