BY MILES LAYTON AND CHRISTINA WILLIAMS

HERTFORD — When Perquimans County’s Republican Party held its annual county convention Saturday at the courthouse, the party’s faithful heard speeches from the local and district leadership who have their eyes set on success in the 2026 midterm elections.    

Convention Chair Bobby Valentine presided over the election of new officers and delegates as he was not seeking re-election.

First Congressional District Chair Harvey West took a moment to thank Valentine for holding the Perquimans GOP together after county Chairman Tim Brinn’s recent injury — he is on the mend. Tough old bird — Army Colonel, retired, if memory serves me correct.

Why is it important to cover local political party conventions? Short answer – by reporting on party officials and their respective public officeholders, our readers can gain insight into the policies these decision-makers pursue. All politics is local, and quite honestly, what happens in a town council meeting or a county commissioners meeting has far more impact than DC politicians pontificating about how a sparrow flapping its wings in Brazil causes global warming.  

Democrats – if you folks have a convention – please send me an invite, and the Albemarle Observer will cover that too.  

Back to the convention — Henry House was elected as county Chairman with Brinn to serve the party as Vice Chair and Ashley Merritt as Secretary. A story about House will appear in a future post to the Albemarle Observer. Henry and his wife Gail are co-owners of Carolina Moon Bakery in Hertford.

For now, other county party titles are in flux to preserve neutrality in the wake of Kyle Jones’ plans to run for District Court Judge in 2026. A longtime local GOP official, an assistant district attorney and former Perquimans County commissioner, Jones gave a brief speech about candidacy.  

“I couldn’t help but reminisce a little on Saturday, about my first Perquimans County GOP Convention 19 years ago in 2006, my Uncle Bobby Jones was Chairman of the County GOP at the time.  The attendance that year was maybe one-quarter of what Saturday’s was, at-most, and that was in an election year.  A lot of the members that worked so hard for years have passed away, and so it’s really bittersweet seeing all the new faces, and wishing the old guard was here to see it now.”

Jones continued,  “As a judicial candidate next year, I was allowed to make some brief remarks, so I talked about how Judge Barnes’s retirement created a vacancy in one of our five District Court Judge seats, how it will be filled by Governor Stein in the next few months, and when I’ll be on the ballot. It was a successful convention, and of course it’s my home County so it was more like a family reunion, my wife Grace and I had a great time.”

As folks who have attended these conventions in the past few weeks know, West and Bobbi Foley are running for First Congressional District Chairperson. 

West spoke for both the First Congressional District Republican Party and also his candidacy to re-run for office at the district convention to be held April 12 at the Martin County Schools Innovation Center, Williamston.

Speaking about Republicans’ success in local elections, West said, “Through information and education, we flipped Northeastern North Carolina.”

West relayed names like Representative Ed Goodwin, former legislator Bob Steinburg, State Senators Norm Sanderson and Bobby Hanig, Rep. Keith Kidwell – “We’ve been changing Eastern North Carolina for a long time – almost 20 years.”  

West continued, “Look at the changes we’ve made in those six years. We went from no money to $15,000 in the bank. I can’t take credit for what the legislature does, but I can take credit for the infrastructure that we instilled in the game that they gave us. We’ve raised over $15,000 during the last two years, put up billboards across the district – that had never been done before.”

West fired up the crowd with his energy and passion for politics.  

“I’ve given almost 20 years of my life to this party – most of you know what I’m about – and I’m not done yet. Rome wasn’t built in a day. This congressional district wasn’t going to flip in six years, but we are close. We’re closer than we’ve ever been. And we can do it in 2026. I have the energy, the passion and I have the track record… We made the changes in Northeastern North Carolina and we are not done.”

With more than 34 years of experience working for the federal government, Foley said, “I was DOGE before DOGE was real. I fired two government employees. I have cut contracts and I have managed over $500 million dollars in contracts before.”

While living in Virginia, Foley said she served as a GOP delegate, was a member of the Trump campaigns, and worked with groups like Concerned Women for America and Freedom Works. Foley said she has lobbied Congress for pro-life and Second Amendment causes.  

Much like the feeling Republicans had when President Reagan was elected, Foley expressed her admiration for Trump’s triumph inaugurating a new era.     

“I love Donald Trump,” she said. “I love waking up every morning and he is our president – because you can’t handle the excitement about what’s going on. It’s like, ‘what happened!?’ I want to continue that because in 2026 is a dropoff time and that’s when people aren’t as excited (about politics). I worked tirelessly for Trump for three elections.”

Foley continued, “We’ll cross the finish line because we need excitement. We need people to get excited for the 2026 election so he can continue with Christmas all through his whole four years. I am Christian conservative and I would be honored to be your next District Chair. I humbly request your vote. And I can say is, ‘Go Trump!’”    

The keynote speaker was state Representative Ed Goodwin, R-Chowan. Other district speakers included District Vice Chairs Ed Stiles and John Spruill, and District Secretary Lynda West.

District Attorney Jeff Cruden and Judge Jeffrey Moreland attended. 

Congratulations to the new Perquimans GOP officers, executive committee, and district and state delegates!

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