What LibertyJustice saw at the Caucus

Commenter "LibertyJustice" sent this note:

Buzzcut. Yes, there were two caucuses on Sunday. The first was contested as you have mentioned.

Jack Chavez's support speech was given by Mrs. Tanis from Dyer. Both speeches (Jack's and hers) emphasized the education component of Jack's experience and training, and mentioning that a great deal of a local budget is spent on education. Mrs. Tanis, said that she and Jack were or are both NEA members. One of them mentioned Jack's 4.0 GPA while obtaining his Master's in Education Administration in Chicago. Jack described a meeting of Hispanic-American Republicans he attended where Senator John McCain was speaking. Senator McCain told them that because of demographics, they are the future of the Rep. party. Jack described himself as a Hispanic-American, and hoped to use that reach out to the Hispanic precincts. Jack would like to become a bridge to Hispanics to convince them (as he himself is already) that the Repbulican Party is the best party for them.

Before the vote was taken, a remark was made that going forward, we needed to stand together. Both candidates agreed.

For Peter Karagan, he gave a gracious acceptance speech and said the work was only beginning. It appears that Mr. Ochoa WILL serve as his campaign manager. Pete says he is indeed ready to walk and work and do what is necessary to convince voters that he will better serve District 12 than the incumbent.

The second caucus was for House Dist 13. The election was not contested. Mr. Bob Calabrese, a long-time Republican from Lake County, now living in Lowell gave a speech in support of Mr Craig Menninga. Bob is a brother-in-law to Craig and spent the much of his 2 minutes speaking of Mr. Menninga's character and integrity. Afterward he spoke briefly of his dedication to limited gov't principles. Craig followed-up by speaking from his heart about his passionate opposition to ever-expanding and intrusive government. He also spent time speaking of state's rights. I wish I had taken a video because I was quite impressed not only with what he said but how he said it. I did not hear the vote count announced, but he technically needed only one vote to be named, and there were 10 or so committeemen in attendance.

This is all from memory and could have some minor errors.