Trevor Shaw, assistant secretary of the Alaska Republican Party, is at the Republican National Committee meeting this week and attended the presidential debate on Wednesday.
Shaw, who was the youngest person to ever serve on the Ketchikan School Board and who has been a state party officer for nearly a decade, said the debate was “top notch.”
“Everybody was at the top of their game,” he said. “I came in without expectations, which is a little hard since I’ve been involved for so long.”
Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Nikki Haley had the best breakout moments, according to many of the people Shaw spoke with who attended in person.
The most negative reaction from the audience was not to Chris Christie, who received a lot of boos from the room that were audible on the televised debate. Shaw said that former President Mike Pence ended up getting on the audience’s nerves with his constant interrupting of other candidates and going over his time.
“There was a lot of head shaking toward Pence,” Shaw said. “If you go by the ‘boos,’ it was Christie, but Pence had a favorable reaction at first that shifted, and people were the most frustrated with him.”
Shaw said that Ramaswamy was impressive, entirely unscripted, at times moving people practically to tears with his life story and passion for America, and Shaw was also impressed with DeSantis. He was able to meet both of them during events this week.
Also attending the RNC meeting and debate was Alaska GOP Chairwoman Ann Brown, and her husband Fred Brown, National Committeewoman Cynthia Henry and her husband Ken Henry, and National Committeeman Craig Campbell and his wife Ann Marie Campbell.
While the 2024 Republican convention will be held in Milwaukee, Wisc., where this meeting and debate occurred, the 2028 convention will be held in Houston. The venue was voted on during Friday’s Republican National Committee meeting.
“After a smart business decision made by the RNC last spring to allow us to select the next convention city earlier than ever, we are looking forward to seeing Houston in the spotlight come 2028,” Ronna McDaniel, chair of the RNC, said in a statement. “The entire RNC membership is eager to work with Mayor Sylvester Turner, the Houston Host Committee, and Houston First Corporation to follow in Milwaukee’s footsteps by delivering an incredible convention for our Party.”
