Brooklyn GOP joint operations field office opens in Dyker Heights

Event Brings Republican Party of New York Chairman Ed Cox to Brooklyn

March 13, 2017 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle

From left: Council Candidate Liam McCabe, Brooklyn Republican Party Chairman Ted Ghorra, Republican Party of New York Chairman Ed Cox and Brooklyn Young Republican Club President Brandon Washington. Eagle photos by John Alexander

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The Brooklyn Republican Party and its chairman Ted Ghorra hosted the grand opening of their new joint operations field office in Dyker Heights on Saturday. The Brooklyn GOP is working closely with the Republican Party of New York to quickly expand upon a grassroots effort through a sophisticated operation to reach thousands of voters in Brooklyn quickly and on a large scale.

While the event was held in Dyker Heights, all reaches of Brooklyn were represented, according to Ghorra, “from Bedford Stuyvesant to Marine Park, from Coney Island to Canarsie, from Bay Ridge to Gerritsen Beach.” State Sen. Marty Golden attended along with City Council hopefuls Liam McCabe and John Quaglione.

Ghorra recognized Brandon Washington, president of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club; Batya Goldberg, president of the recently launched Teen Republican Club; and Ray Denaro, the president of the newly launched South Brooklyn Republican Club. As part of the volunteer orientation, Maureen Daly, Brooklyn GOP executive committee member and director of the joint office, offered a video training presentation for the volunteers.

Ghorra introduced Republican Party of New York Chairman Ed Cox, who has held the office since 2008. Cox, married to former President Richard Nixon’s daughter Patricia, began his political career in 1968 campaigning for Nixon, and in 1980 he was active in former President Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign. Cox served in Reagan’s administration and in 1988 and 1992, he organized the New York Speakers Bureau for George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign.

Cox thanked Ghorra for “putting real energy into the Brooklyn party.” He acknowledged that the Brooklyn party helped get Trump elected president, especially during what he termed the “crucial primary.”

Cox said that his role is to help the party win elections and that there are a few big elections coming up. “[The Republican Party] has gone from two congressional seats to nine congressional seats,” he said. “We went from not having the majority in the state Senate to having a majority in the state Senate. And in the last presidential election, for the first time since 2004, we held on to all our congressional seats and to our majority in the state Senate.”

He explained that the upcoming elections are crucial because, according to Cox, Mayor Bill de Blasio is undoing everything that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani put in place to rebuild New York as a great city. He also cited former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s education reforms that he said de Blasio has taken apart. He said de Blasio does not understand what it takes to manage a city like New York, and that the crucial thing is to build up the Republican Party in order to win upcoming elections.

“It’s great to see the number of volunteers turning out on a Saturday morning, here for the Brooklyn Party and the leadership of Chairman Ted Ghorra,” Cox told the Brooklyn Eagle. “They are mobilizing to identify Republican volunteers and workers for the hundreds of thousands of Republicans in the city of New York and put them to work so that we can elect a Republican mayor of this great city.”

“The Brooklyn GOP thanks the many people who turned out for our forward thinking party building event,” Ghorra told the Eagle. “Today’s tremendous energy and, as you saw, the large crowd representing many parts of Brooklyn at the field office, is further testament to the strength of our party. We are thrilled to undertake this effort with the New York state Party, and thank Chairman Ed Cox for attending today’s event and the party’s support. Many people will find a home in our party, which is diverse, talented, energized and very welcoming.”