The Republican Party of St. Johns County in Northeast Florida is ramping up efforts ahead of the 2024 election, as chairman Dr. Blake Paterson laid out of some of the actions the party is taking locally to engage voters, emphasizing the reality that change starts at the local level.
“If you’re going to fix the top– the federal government … represents the mess of our culture, but it represents the mess in the states, and the states represent the messes of the counties,” he said, pointing to their motto that “you got to fix the county in order to fix the state in order to fix the country.”
While it is true that St. Johns County is solidly red, Paterson said two areas — St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach — have actually become urban centers, with a high population density. However, those areas are run by Democrats, who control the commissions.
“These are people that do not in any way, shape, or form represent the values or the governance that the vast majority of the county wants, that the citizens that pay the bills want and deserve,” Paterson explained, explaining how St. Johns County Republicans are focusing on voter turnout.
“[It’s] a lot of people that have been underserved. That doesn’t mean that they’re of color or whatever. They’ve just been underserved. And they have taken a very passive approach to voting,” he said of voters in these urban areas and laying out the latest approach to activate the grassroots– which some may view as unconventional.
“So what we’re doing right now is we’re going out to those areas and then next year … we’re going to those areas, and we’re sort of doing a reverse psychology on the situation,” he said, explaining that they are telling individuals to register to vote by mail — but not for the reason one might think.
“The laws have changed and all the old applications, all the old registrations were done. Why vote by mail? Well, you don’t need to vote by mail, you need to get the ballot and that gives you 45 days to research the 30 or so names on the ballot, because most people vote for folks that they don’t even know who they are [or] what they represent,” he explained, noting that many on the ballot are not affiliated with a party and emphasizing that one does not have to vote by mail just because they received a ballot in the mail.
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“It gives you time to research who [are] these people that are running … 45 days. You don’t have to use the ballot. You can show up and vote – there’s no prejudice there. And moreover, if you have a vote by mail ballot, bring it with you to the ballot boxes if you’re going to vote in person,” he said, explaining that the party very much believe in paper ballots, voting in person, one or two day voting, and that’s it except for the absentees that are serving overseas or disabled.
“You show up with a ballot in hand because in the very rare event that somebody says, ‘Well, you already voted. You say, ‘No, I didn’t, look at my vote by mail ballot here.’ So a little bit of an insurance policy,” he continued, noting that registering to vote by mail also opens the door for ballot chasing, which he described as engaging a voter in a conversation.
“It’s to engage the voter in a conversation, whether it’s by the email address on their voter registration, or whether it’s by social media handle or whether it’s by telephone, even the old fashioned text messages, stuff like that,” he said.
“We intend to engage them in the conversation” and communicate positions and issues, which could make voters realize that the incumbent is not serving their needs.
“And we’re all about, in St. Johns County, electing citizen patriots, and not people that are either grifters or in for a long-term political career,” he added.
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