Polk County Republican Women are getting active in the Iowa caucus, and their enthusiasm and organization is receiving national attention. Last weekend, the group from central Iowa was awarded the largest jump in participation for a group of its kind from the National Federation of Republican Women. The local band of women saw its membership more than double in size in the past year, though for Executive Director Gloria Mazza, that’s not where she’d like to be.
“I’d like to reach 200 by the time I move on,” said Mazza. “But I’ll be done by the end of this year, though I’ll be moving into a more adviser role, so we can get that number in two years or so.”
Mazza took over as Executive Director for the Polk County GOP, a little more than a year ago, and also serves as the point person for the women’s group. She’s a seasoned campaign worker, having helped out with Republican Mitt Romney’s campaign in the 2012 caucus. Mazza credits the local women’s group uptick in participation with a few simple changes on her part.
“We moved the meeting time from earlier in the day to 6 at night,” said Mazza. “My focus was to catch the young professionals, because I saw there was a group, they were active, but the membership wasn’t active. So now women can get off work, get dinner ready for the kids, and get away for a few hours.”
The monthly meetings are at the Tavern Pizza and Pasta Grill for a more relaxed feeling, said Mazza, and that has garnered more enthusiasm. She said she also decided to bring in featured speakers, and began that process during last year’s midterm elections.
“All of them, Joni Ernst, Mark Jacobs, David Young…and we would just be jam-packed with candidates,” said Mazza. “That brought in their staffs, and a lot of the women that worked for them became members.”
More recently, Mazza has brought in presidential candidates’ wives, such as Janet Huckabee, Kelley Paul, and on Monday, Heidi Cruz. Mazza said hearing from the wives as candidates as well as other featured speakers on topics like gun safety and sex trafficking have factored in the increase of members.
“The variety of programs has helped,” said Mazza. “We’re going to have a ladies-only night….and it will be on the beginnings of gun safety and are you thinking about a carry permit, things like that.”
Mazza said she has reached out to a few presidential candidates to be a featured speaker at the group’s annual Chili Cookoff next month, and is close to confirming a contender. She said that money goes toward the group’s support of local candidates in upcoming elections.
