Latest news with #WashingtonCountyRepublicanParty
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Washington County Republican Party elects new chair during reorganization meeting
GRAY, Tenn. (WJHL)—On Saturday morning, the Washington County Republican Party gathered to vote on the members who will lead their group for the next two years. The vote took place at the party's biennial reorganization meeting, which allowed the group to elect the people they felt would best represent them. Over 400 people were in attendance, all happy to be surrounded by those on the same page. 'Most republicans, I think, are on the same level that we share the same ideals and values,' member Paul Miller said. 'And so I'm really excited and looking forward to see what's going to happen in the next two years.' This year, the party elected Danielle Goodrich chair. She received 223 votes, beating her opponent, Todd Fowler, by five votes. Miller said he felt confident in Goodrich's ability to lead. 'I think she's going to be a good voice for us, a good chair,' Miller said. 'Because she's trying to be kind of, take the state politics that we're seeing from Trump into the local with his transparency.' Goodrich is the first female chair elected in at least eight years. But she said winning this position is about more than her gender. 'I mean, as a role model for my daughter, I think that's great,' Goodrich said. 'But I really think it comes down to, you know, who's the best for the job and who do the people have confidence to put in. And I don't think it really has to do with gender as much as who the people have confidence in. And I'm just elated that the people have confidence in me, and I will do my very best and work my tail off to get everything done that we said that we would.' While in her position, Goodrich said she aims to be open and honest with the party. 'We want people to be informed,' she said. 'So we want people to know all the republican candidates are on the ballot, and we want the people to know what they stand for.' Both Goodrich and Miller said being active in local politics, like the Republican party, is just as important as being active in state and national elections. 'I mean, this is our community,' Goodrich said. 'This is where I'm raising three of my children. And I want to be able to hand down freedom for them to do the same.' 'Of course, the presidential elections are important,' Miller said. 'But our local stuff is very important. So I think our voice is really the loudest here at the local level.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
24-03-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Haitian community in Charleroi facing uncertain future as U.S. aims to revoke legal status of migrants
An executive order that revokes the legal status of a half-million people from Haiti and Latin America could have a significant impact on the Washington County community of Charleroi, where the majority of the city's roughly 1,000 immigrants are from Haiti. The explosive population growth the city has seen was primarily caused by the Biden-era CHNV program that is ending, said Joseph Patrick Murphy, an immigration attorney who often works with Haitian immigrants in Charleroi. He says the Trump executive order is a recipe for disaster in Charleroi. Some community members have argued the city has seen a turnaround for the best due to the influx of immigrants while others have argued the opposite. KDKA-TV met Murphy inside a Charleroi restaurant, where he was speaking with an immigrant from Haiti who had already faced a major obstacle in his life. "He was a pastor, and he found himself being terrorized by Haitian gangs who are notoriously hostile to Christianity," Murphy said. He came to Murphy after hearing about the executive order, hoping he could get help to remain in the country legally. "He's terrified," Murphy said, explaining the man has until August when his legal status, with the half-million other Haitians, will expire. Their Temporary Protected Status designation had been set to run until February. Those with the protection rely on the government extending it when it expires to remain legal under the same program. With the program expiring early, many immigrants are worried about losing their legal status and work permits, he said. "They are going to have to find some other way of being legal, go home, or try and stay under the radar and kind of just live in the shadows," Murphy said, explaining many are scrambling. As for the town, Murphy said because of the executive order, they could lose 800 to 1,000 workers. "If they all left, you have 800 or 1,000 rents that stop being paid. You have 800 or 1,000 gas tanks that aren't being filled, groceries that aren't being bought, it will be rough on this town economically," Murphy said. "I suspect that there will be pain here in this town." Ashley Duff, the chairperson of the Washington County Republican Party, said pain was already felt. "The residents didn't ask to have all of the immigrants put in this town," Duff said. "And I feel like with Secretary Noem's new directive, they're going to feel a lot of relief." From what she's heard, the immigrants in the community were loosely vetted and it undercut American workers. She lives near Charleroi and says the city can weather the loss of immigrants. "We believe that the people of Charleroi are strong, resilient people and that they're going to want to see their community thrive, and they're going to be able to come back from any hurt that may be felt," Duff said. Not all immigrants would have to leave. About one-third of them should be able to apply for asylum, including the man KDKA-TV saw Murphy working with. "I think he's got a winner on his hands," Murphy said. Critics of the Temporary Protected Status program have argued its renewal has effectively become automatic over the years. Murphy said that's an open secret for programs like it. "What they normally do is they stop accepting new members, and then maybe they'll extend it for shorter periods of time," Murphy said. "But when people marry, citizens go home. Some people die, and these programs normally die in natural death." He added Charleroi has handled the influx of immigrants better than anywhere else he's worked.
