Mike Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee, will be the keynote speaker at a West Virginia Republican Party fundraising dinner Saturday, July 14, at the Pullman Plaza Hotel in Huntington. Reservations can be made by calling party headquarters at 304-768-0495.
The entire day will be a big event for the state GOP, with the semi-annual State Executive Committee meeting earlier in the day, featuring an update on the new state convention on February 5, 2008, special sessions on precinct organization for the County Chairs, and filing committee reports for County Treasurers.
Mike Duncan, a 30-year political strategist and veteran of Republican politics, was elected as the 60th Chairman of the Republican National Committee in January 2007.
Duncan has worked for and advised Republican candidates and parties at the local, state and national level his entire adult life. He has held a wide variety of positions at the RNC, most recently as General Counsel and before that, Treasurer.
During his career, he has served on the campaigns of five Presidents, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. He has been a delegate to six Republican National Conventions and is one of the few persons ever to serve on four standing convention committees.
Chairman Duncan’s service has extended to the federal government. In 1989-90, during a sabbatical from his banking career, he worked in the George H. W. Bush White House as assistant Director of Public Liaison.
President George W. Bush appointed him to the President’s Commission on White House Fellows in 2001 and nominated him to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board, a position to which he was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in March 2006.
Duncan has been equally active in his home state of Kentucky, where he helped in the successful campaign to win back Kentucky’s statehouse for the first time in 36 years.
In 1998 he took a leave of absence from his business and chaired Jim Bunning’s successful U.S. Senate race. In addition Duncan is a long-time supporter and fundraiser for Senator Mitch McConnell.
A civic capitalist, Chairman Duncan is active in numerous professional and nonprofit organizations. He served as board chairman of a state university and a private college.
He is a Trustee of the Christian Appalachian Project, the 15th largest private social services agency in America. His public service has been recognized with several distinctions, including honorary degrees from the College of the Ozarks, Cumberland College, and Morehead State University. His student-mentoring program, in its 28th year, has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Los Angeles Times.
The Duncan family is the principal owner of two community banks with five offices in eastern Kentucky. Chairman Duncan has served as President of the Kentucky Bankers Association and as a Director of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank Cincinnati Branch.
Mike Duncan and his wife Joanne are 1974 graduates of the University of Kentucky College of Law. They live in Inez, Kentucky and have one son, Rob, an Assistant United States Attorney in Lexington, Kentucky, who is married to Valerie Ridder of Springfield, Missouri.
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RNC chairman to speak at July 14 WVGOP fundraiser
Having
Fun With Mojo
One week in my life is like a lifetime for most of you!
Separated at birth?
SAY HELLO TO MY LEETLE FRIEND -- Gov. Joe Manchin, left, reveals his inner Al Pacino as he blasts away with an M-4 automatic rifle at a new shooting range. Either that, or the photo was taken as Mojo ordered the Economic Development Authority to buy the land adjacent to the new Hino Motors plant.
Mike Duncan headlines big day of committee meeting, dinner
MIKE DUNCAN
Manchin suddenly ready to embrace GOP agenda
Gov. Joe Manchin, in a stunning reversal, says now he is ready to tackle the economic initiatives sought by Republicans in the last legislative session.
Last January, Republicans unveiled several legislative priorities, holding a press conference to outline their agenda.
Cutting unfair taxes was a big part of the agenda, including fully eliminating the unfair and burdensome business franchise tax and providing businesses additional relief from the corporate net income tax.
Manchin said the state couldn't afford the Republican wish list, and instead stuck with his chip away here and there approach.
But this week, Manchin suddenly did an about face, telling the Charleston Daily Mail, " "I would like to remove the (business) franchise tax as soon as possible. And I would like to remove the inventory tax -- we need to be looking at it."
The astounding turnaround by the governor is seen by many legislative Republicans as another example of Manchin shooting down ideas when they don't originate with him, then coming back with them when he can claim the credit for them.
Nevertheless, as one GOP lawmaker said today, "We are glad the Governor agrees with our position that we need true tax reform to help spur economic activity in West Virginia, and we stand ready to work with him and legislative leaders this coming session."
Hey kids! Mojo here! What a week! First, I went to Wood County to announce that Hino Motors was locating its new truck plant right here in West Virginia! Then, I depostied $807 million from the June 14 tobacco settlement bond sale, saving West Virginia taxpayers more than $2.5 billion! Wow! Next, I headed up north to test out a new firing range, and I got some great photos for the next campaign, uh, I mean for my personal scrapbook, of me firing away with an M-4
automatic machine gun! That was fun! You kids should try it! But make sure to ask Mom and Dad first! And on my way back to Charleston, I painted new lines on 30 miles of highway, rescued a little old lady from a pack of vicious wolves, cracked a 20-year old unsolved murder case, and wrote the first draft of my autobiography, which will be called, "Wishing You Were Me - The Joe Manchin Story." Thanks to my personal photographer, there will be plenty of pictures! In bookstores soon!
