LW America First Republican Club

by Brian Harmon

LW contributor

The LW America First Republican Club January meeting featured two speakers, Austin Edsell, chief of staff for State Sen. Janet Nguyen, and Congressional candidate Max Ukropina.

Nguyen is running for an open seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. She was unable to attend because the State Senate is currently in session.

Edsell said that public safety is the top priority for Nguyen. She is endorsed by the California Republican party, which is rare for a candidate for a non-partisan office like the OC Board of Supervisors.

She is also endorsed by the Orange County GOP, the California Republican assembly, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association, the Orange County Register, and the Orange County Young Republicans.

Ukropina is running for the Congressional seat left open by current Congresswoman Katie Porter. Ukropina is opposed in the primary by former Assemblyman Scott Baugh.

“I am an America first guy,” Ukropina said. He argued that he is more conservative than Baugh and that more conservatives are needed in Congress to slow down the growth in government spending. Ukropina also said the Republicans in Congress should have pushed harder to cut spending, rather than giving in to prevent a government shutdown. Ukropina said that the interest on the national debt is currently more than the budget for the Department of Defense.

The Leisure World America First Republican Club supports legal immigration and secure borders, peace through strength, lower taxes, cutting government spending, free enterprise capitalism, family values, parental control of education, public safety through well-funded law-enforcement and an America first foreign policy.

Monthly meetings are held in Clubhouse 3, Room 2, on the third Wednesday of each month at 5 p.m. for socializing and 5:30 for the speaker.

The club booth, located near Clubhouse 6, will be open each Monday, Wednesday and Friday in January from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. At the booth, residents can sign the Protect Kids of California petition, register to vote, change their party affiliation, or just enjoy pleasant conversation.

The Protect Kids of California proposition, if passed, would not allow transgender people to enter bathrooms or compete on sports teams that are not the gender they were born. It would also require schools to get parental permission to refer students for gender-altering medical care or hormone therapy.