Taking Up The Leadership John Hinnant - New NHC GOP County Chair

In this episode of the Nikki and Reuel podcast, the hosts discuss the recent changes in leadership within the New Hanover County GOP, focusing on the newly elected chairperson John Hinnant. The conversation covers Hinnant's plans for unifying the party, improving volunteer engagement, and addressing key issues such as women's sports legislation and DEI in education. The hosts also touch on the upcoming mayoral race and the dissatisfaction among voters regarding local school districts, emphasizing the importance of community involvement and professional discourse within the party.

Takeaways

• The Wilmington Conservative relies on community support for growth.
• John Hinnant emphasizes the importance of volunteer time and engagement.
• The GOP must work towards unifying its members despite internal disagreements.
• Improving primary turnout is crucial for the success of Republican candidates.
• Legislation protecting women's sports is a significant issue for voters.
• DEI policies in education could have financial repercussions for schools.
• The upcoming mayoral race presents an opportunity for Republican candidates.
• Community service and engagement should be a year-round effort for the GOP.
• Healthy debates within the party are necessary for growth and improvement.
• Professionalism in political discourse is essential for party unity.

Sound Bites

• "We really do need you."
• "We are a big tent party."
• "We need to put somebody in there."

Transcript

Reuel Sample: 0:00

Welcome to the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience. I'm Reuel Sample as always, happy to be joined by Nikki Bascome. Good morning Nikki.

Nikki Bascome: 0:09

Good morning and what a good morning it is. It's beautiful outside. Oh my goodness.

Reuel Sample: 0:15

It is a beautiful day. But I got to tell you, I'm digging deep today. Digging deep because it was a long, long night last night. Uh, we're going to be talking to some, uh, to a great guy as the result of all that. But, uh, before we get into that, I wanted to talk a little bit about how you can help us support things here at the Wilmington Conservative, because we really do need you. Uh, the Wilmington Conservative is dedicated to bringing reasonable news and analysis to the Coastal Carolina region. And we hope we're doing that because we believe that when conservative thought is properly presented and considered, most Americans will find that they have always agreed with our positions. Now we rely on advertisers and patrons to help us meet these ongoing costs and to provide funding to expand our footprint. Because somebody has got to pay for Nikki's, uh, makeup.

Nikki Bascome: 1:10

Glasses. I need some new lip gloss.

Reuel Sample: 1:14

So please consider becoming a patron of the Wilmington Conservative to help us grow. We have got a we've got a variety of tiers available, but all tiers include direct access, email, merchandise, and the link to the live report recording of this podcast. Uh, we really need you, so please go to Patreon.com/theWilmingtonConservative. The link is right down below, as you can actually click on that link and sign up today to become a supporter. We we really do need you and thank you for your support. So Nikki, We really do need. We really do need folks to help us continue because this is this is good stuff that we're doing. So Nikki, who is joining us today?

Nikki Bascome: 2:08

Well, you just brought up that we had a long night, but it was a long afternoon and a long day at the New Hanover County GOP convention. And at our convention, we elected a brand new chairperson. And I am very happy to introduce our new new Hanover County GOP chairperson, John Hinnant.

John Hinnant: 2:28

Hello.

Nikki Bascome: 2:29

Good morning.

John Hinnant: 2:30

Good morning.

Reuel Sample: 2:31

Good morning.

Nikki Bascome: 2:32

How are you feeling this morning?

John Hinnant: 2:35

Yeah, I am dragging my tailfeather a little bit this morning, but yeah, I'm I've, I'm now up to 27 text messages I gotta respond to and three, 5 or 6 voicemails, but, um, uh, real excited, uh, real pleased with the results of the convention. And, um, I was disappointed in the turnout. Um, you know, 2023, we had 554 seated delegates. And last night, I think we were around 216. And so I hope that's because it was a Monday night or a spring break. But the, um, I hope it's not the Trump effect and that people are complacent. I think we if it's if people are complacent, we're in real trouble and we're gonna have to work really, really hard. So, um, but I was really excited with the way things went down, um, focused really hard on who spent the better part of the day. Yesterday, despite being busy at work, I got my work done before lunch and then put the finishing touches on my speech, and I practiced it four times and got it dialed in to four minutes and 58 seconds, and we had a five minute time limit, and our timekeeper was sitting there and he was about to pick up the cowbell, and I said, thank you. And it was the speech was over. So I Uh, felt really good about that because it's that's a that's a tough thing when you're for me and you've seen me on the stump before, I usually speak from the cuff. I don't usually come with prepared remarks. And I reading a speech is a little bit more of a challenge for me, especially when, you know, a lot of people don't know. I've had four eye procedures in the last three years, um, two on each eye. And so, um, reading things is, uh, I have to really take my time and be very, very careful with it, but, um, yeah, I, uh, I think that's me chiming in. I'm gonna shut that down. I don't know if you can hear that, but, um, the, uh, I was real pleased with how things went out, and, uh, it was great to see our Republican Party there. Um, we had, uh, all ages, uh, all likes. So we were well represented last night.

Reuel Sample: 4:50

Well, it was it was a great speech. It was those of us who were on the stage and helping to run this thing. Really do appreciate when people stay in their allotted time zones. So we we we thank you for doing that. Uh, but now that the campaign is over, you no longer have a slate. You now have a board, Mr. Chairman, and you have a lot to get done. And you have talked a lot about your first few months in, in, in this position, especially your first 30 days or so. Uh, what are you going to be doing?

John Hinnant: 5:23

So I think so your most valuable commodity commodity is the time that your volunteers get. Volunteers are extremely important, but I put more value on their time. I want to make sure they're not overworked. And so one of the first things we're going to do is a committee interest meetings. And we're going to do two, maybe three. Uh, the board and I are getting together tomorrow night. Um, and we're going to be, um, I'm going to be introducing them to my recommendation for executive director, which I'm excited about. Um, and we're going to talk about this committee interest meetings. And so what it's going to look like is when you come into the headquarters, there's going to be tables around the walls, down the walls where members of our existing committees are will sit. And people with a curious interest, willingness to serve can learn what the committees do, what where there is room for them to help. What's the time commitment? What's, uh what is the what is the what is the the overall challenge? Um, and what can they do and what do they have the capacity to do? I think that's the big thing. Right? So, um, and I use I love, I just love to brag about, uh, young lady named Peyton Steele, who's a member of the College Republicans at UNC, and she's the chair of the Turning Point chapter there. And she's a marketing communications major, and she's a full time student. She's got an internship. And I said, hey, would you be willing to be a part of the team? She goes, well, I'm really busy. And I said, well, listen, there's a lot going on on the communications committee, but I only want you to pick something you have the capacity to do and do well. And I said, you know, if TikTok becomes an American owned company, you can handle it. Like you, we'll give you the guidelines. Uh, we'll give you the strategy. We're trying to achieve, and we'll let you run with it. And we'll have other people on the committee and social media that can help you understand what our goals and objectives are like driving traffic to the website, uh, driving volunteers, uh, generating contributions, generating traffic for our candidates, generating revenue for our candidates fundraising. And so I want to make sure that we have enough people on the teams of the different committees to do what needs to be done, because over the last 4 to 6 years, I'm on a podcast with two people who fell into this situation. We got great people doing great work, and over the years, some people on the team step away. Some people move, some people get a job and they something happens and people like Beth Frye, I say, fall into a silo and she's just overwhelmed and she's too proud. And I love Beth to death, but she's too proud to say help. Or at least I don't know if she asked for help. And as a leader, it's my job to say, hey, I need to give you some help. Here's some people to help you. And so I want to make sure our, our work, our, our volunteers are not overworked. And so that's the first thing is build the capacity of our committees because we've got an incredibly important municipal election coming up. I'm also I'm also meeting with prospective candidates. Suddenly that that was a couple of calls I had this morning was, hey, let's grab coffee. I'm thinking about running for City Council and I'm excited about the prospects we have. So, um, so so I'm, uh. Awesome. Yeah. So I'm so that's the thing is, we got to build the capacity of our committees so that, you know, we I felt like our communications in the last 35, 40 days before the election just kind of fell off. And no offense to present company, but our last podcast was September 25th. And if I want to have a good communication plan so that it's all sorted out. So each month notices how many you know, how many, how many social media posts a day, how many emails per month. When do we do mailers? Um, who are our audiences and what part of our strategy. Are we taking off? So I want to make sure it's all there. And, um, and I hope to have all that done before our first town hall meeting where I can say I can show them the chart. So here's here's who's on the communications team. Here's what the communication plan looks like. Uh, if you see something that doesn't have a name by it and you feel like you can do that, say it. So now, because we can't wait another month to not have it done so. So that's going to be the first thing. Um, I, I'm really excited. I think, uh, you know, I was pleased that my at large block of five, uh, board members or committee members were added. Um, I'd love to talk about a couple of those guys, too, if you if you'd like to talk about them, by all.

Reuel Sample: 10:30

Means, go ahead. I mean, we're talking. We're talking about what you're doing.

John Hinnant: 10:33

Yeah. So, um, uh, the five, uh, Aaron Cogan is, has been a real conservative activist towards the school board, and she's providing support for some of our Republican school board members. And so she is such a good, strong, conservative voice when it comes to education issues and life, uh, pro-life issues. So I'm really excited to have her, uh, Wallace West and Tracy Mitchell are past candidates. And so they bring a perspective like I do. And what what candidates need from the party. Um, Bill Cortez, um, a lot of people don't know him. He's been in Wilmington for a long time. Well, here's what's exciting. He he recently started a new position in public affairs for a firm out of DC. But he's able to work from home now. He's remote, and it seems his last boss got a promotion. He was the senior advisor for Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. Oh, wow. And so, so to have that kind of resource in our community willing to serve.

Nikki Bascome: 11:39

On.

John Hinnant: 11:39

On our executive, he was a teller.

Nikki Bascome: 11:42

Last thing. It's not the name.

John Hinnant: 11:45

He was a teller last night. He counted. He counted the center front section. So, uh, so it's great to have a resource like that in our community. Somebody with professional political experience. Um, and next time you see him, Nikki, you got to ask to see the picture of his little girl. She's 11 months old. Uh, precious. Uh, um, the other guy is Grant Burchett. Uh, Grant's 26 years old. He passed the bar exam about six months ago. Um, again, like Bill, he previously could not serve in local party politics because he was on the legal team for the state GOP and the RNC. So he worked under both Simmons and Whatley, uh, on the legal team. And if you were at the 2024 state convention, he was on the dais. And he joked last night that this was the first convention I've ever been to, that I wasn't working. So he he's worked them from.

Nikki Bascome: 12:41

What a concept.

John Hinnant: 12:42

He's worked the conventions from Murphy to Manteo to the state and and national. So he's, uh, again, two guys with a ton of professional political experience are now going to be sitting in our executive committee and helping us with our strategy, making sure we're well aligned with the state GOP. But they understand we've got a unique nature. We've got to tailor our strategy a little bit because we're a purple county. And in my text messages this morning with, uh, State Chairman Jason Simmons, I said, hey, at the first I said a couple of things. Grant Burchette's mine. I'm making him the executive director. So that's my announcement. I'm going to I'm going to get the consent of the executive board, and Grant's going to be our executive director. So I'm excited about that. Grant will be a very different executive director than directors of the past. He's going to be behind the scenes, making sure all the wheels are turning like it's supposed to turn. Um, I'm the chair. It's my responsibility to be out front, and that's what I'm going to be doing. Um. Uh, but, um. Grant and Bill. Grant has the resources at both state and national. Bill has tremendous resources at National. And so I'm hoping that it just helps us raise our professionalism as an organization. And and when somebody asks why is Raleigh doing this or why is Washington. I might have I might have I might have somebody in the room who knows. So I'm really excited about those five. And so, um, yeah. So I'm going to meet with the executive board tomorrow, and we're going to introduce them to Grant. And, uh, and he's, he's excited to hit the ground running.

Nikki Bascome: 14:25

So that is absolutely amazing. Um, you just hit on something about us having a purple county, but it is also obvious from last night and from a lot of social media chatter that even within the Republican Party, there are some strong elements that want to divide or yell RINO at every person that doesn't agree 100%. How are you going to try to unite our party as your leadership role and as hopefully Grant as our executive director, pulling our party back together?

John Hinnant: 15:01

So, um, we are a big tent party. We're big ideas, people. We are principled people, and we are not afraid to share our opinion. And we value free speech. But, um, healthy parties, healthy organizations occasionally have squabbles, and that's okay. Um, the the thing that I want to see improve is the professionalism of the debate. Um, there was we got a little personal last night, and that's out of line. Um, but I think we can improve the the professionalism and I think the unity will come when they see we're all moving in the same direction and we're all working towards the goal. And and then again, the wins. It's going to it's going to matter if we get the wins and if we have the good candidates get the good wins. Um, I also, you know, Republicans have a DEI problem. Um, and and it's DEI has nearly brought the death of the Democrat Party through identity politics. And when we throw around words like RINO, we are practicing identity politics. And it's got we've got to get beyond that. We're Republicans and that's what that's our brand. We're Republicans. And so we have just like the other party, we've got people on both sides and we've got candidates that will tip toe the platform, but we have to support our candidates. And once we get through a primary, one of my objectives as chair is to keep everybody inside the box like we're going to we're going to we're going to stay on track here together. Uh, we're on the rails. We're moving towards victory, and we need you to we need everybody on the same team. Um, and we will probably have a framed image in the office of Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment. And so, uh, and that will get unveiled after the primary, uh, because I think that that's a critically important thing for us to be successful.

Reuel Sample: 17:07

Those who don't know what is Reagan's 11th commandment?

John Hinnant: 17:11

Thou shalt not speak evil of another Republican after a primary.

Nikki Bascome: 17:15

Did he add after a primary?

John Hinnant: 17:18

He well, it was asked of him. So so he won a primary as governor. I think it was. And the guy he beat spoke disparagingly of him. Two days after the election and the media said, do you have a response? He goes, I believe in the 11th commandment. And the media said, what's that? He goes, thou shalt not speak evil of a fellow Republican after the primary. And so it stopped. The guy who spoke disparagingly of him got in line and then endorsed him.

Nikki Bascome: 17:49

Oh, I wish everyone would get in line. O Lord.

Reuel Sample: 17:54

We often we often forget that primaries are about the person, and we need to have good, healthy debate as Republicans about the person.

Nikki Bascome: 18:02

And healthy, healthy healthy is t e word. Yeah. And not destroying someone's character and not going after anyone's family and and speaking truth facts.

John Hinnant: 18:15

And one of the things that and I mentioned it last night in my remarks is we've got to increase our turnout and our, our primaries, our primary turnout is abysmal. And I think a healthy primary makes our successful candidates better. And so, um, if we're able to, I would like to do a get out the vote campaign for the primary just to get more, better turnout, because better turnout generates a better result, in my opinion. And so I think that we're going to have to do that. I think, uh, I think the school board primary, I think they had top vote getter was 12 or 15,000 votes. And and in the general it took 60 to get across the threshold. So, you know, 60,000. So we got to improve our turnout, uh, 58,000, 50 plus thousand Republicans and then a number of unaffiliated to pull the Republican ballot in the primary. We need to make sure we are, um, getting the vote out as best we can.

Reuel Sample: 19:15

Speaking of getting the vote out, uh, one of the issues that really drove Republicans to the polls is this whole idea of of keeping men out of women's sports. And yesterday, as reported by the Federalist and other places, uh, Democrats effectively killed a bill in the Senate. It was a it was a 51/45. And generally that would mean that a bill passes. But this was in the Senate. So they have different rules. And there was a filibuster, uh, that the Senate Democrats want to allow men to play against girls in sports. We've got a Senate race coming up, but we also have this issue at at various other levels. Uh, Mr. Chair, what are we going to do to protect our children here in north, uh, in New Hanover County? And how are we going to stop this at the national level?

John Hinnant: 20:09

You know, this is the Senate has got the craziest, you know, how do 45 people stop good legislation on an 80, 20 issue? 80 plus percent of Americans don't want men and women sports. And it's just we just got to keep banging the drum. And, um, thanks to the work of Senator Mike Lee and North Carolina and others, um, you know, keeping the boys out of girls sports, um, you know, we'll be able to protect ourselves locally. And then what's going to happen is, uh, voters will vote with their feet and they'll move to a community or state that, that, that shares its enforces their values, that they, that they share. Uh, so, so, um, that's just I can't I can't believe that they still allow 45 people to kill good legislation. And so, um, I guess we'll need to at the national level, the state, the National party is going to have to start targeting some of these Democrats, um, with common sense candidates, you know, and again, the Donald Trump right now is leading, crushing his opposition on 80, 20 issues. 80 plus percent of Americans are in favor of prohibiting men and women's sports. And I think.

Nikki Bascome: 21:27

Some of it, some of these representatives are tone deaf and and just living in their silo. They're they're not listening to this 80 over 20. But you mentioned Michael Lee. And so Michael Lee just co-sponsored a bill to, um, eliminate DEI in our education. So tell us a little bit about how you feel with with that one, because there's been huge social media storm over this one.

John Hinnant: 21:54

Uh, I don't think Michael Lee gets enough credit for how strong and good of a leader is he is. And he's he sits in seat three at the Senate and they seat as they're ranked. And so he's the third most powerful member of the Senate. The guy in seat two. His name is Bill Rabin. And he represents a portion of New Hanover County too. And so these guys deserve a lot of credit for what they do. And getting DEI out of all of our educational systems at the state and local level is critically important because if if we're found to be in violation of Donald Trump's executive order, we could lose federal funding. And nobody in the education system can afford that. I serve on the county's school board's finance committee. None of us. We cannot afford that right now. Uh, the state allotment for assistant principals, based on their ratio, only funds New Hanover County, 23 assistant principals. We have 57. The difference is paid for by the county taxpayer. And so our solution to school funding is in Raleigh. And so if Raleigh doesn't comply with Donald Trump's executive order, it has a ripple effect that has terrible consequences downstream for us.

Reuel Sample: 23:17

Well, speaking about local things, uh, He's back. John Jonathan Barfield has announced that he is running for mayor of Wilmington, one of the most liberal people on the New Hanover County Commission, one of the most controversial as well. And he's going to be running for mayor. Um, Mayor Zappo hasn't announced that he's going to be running again. But, uh, what are your thoughts on on the mayor race here in Wilmington? And that's this year?

John Hinnant: 23:51

Yeah, yeah. Filing begins, I think, July 1st. Normally it's right around 4th of July is when filing starts. Um, that would be pretty bad for us. Uh, I said in my remarks last night that the city of Wilmington has raised my taxes twice in the last four years, and I'm prepared to stand in front and lead the charge to fight any kind of tax increase. Um, we can not allow a tax increase after the record rate of inflation. The record appreciation and values and and anything else because it adds to the cost of housing. If you have a 30 year mortgage and most homeowners do, you have a thing called escrow in your mortgage statement. And that's where the mortgage company sets aside money for your insurance payment and your taxes. And when that goes up, your mortgage payment goes up, which means your cost of your housing goes up. And so we have to be very, very diligent on this. And we have to be a very good get very good at communicating about it, educating voters. And like I said last night, as a party, we have to provide service to the community year round. And this is a year round issue, property taxes, because they feel it every month when they stroke that check to pay their mortgage, or they look at the draft that comes out of their bank account. Um, so we've got to be we've got to we've got to be ready to fight against this. Um, coming in, I'm to meet with, uh, Melissa GOtt who chairs our leadership and development committee. Um, I know we have a plan for a good mayoral candidate in the next cycle. Uh, there's things going on with that person's personal life right now. Uh, without disclosing too much, but we, um, we need to we need to put somebody in there. And if Sappho does run, it'd be an excellent chance to get a Republican in there, because the left will be pulling themselves apart, and we'll have a chance to insert a Republican that could really muddy the waters and be a lot of fun to watch and be a part of. And so, um, so we need to get we need to quickly identify somebody that would be willing. Um, and so we're, we're I will be scouring, uh, various boards and commissions in our community to see if there's somebody who stands out. Um, and business owners that are as well, not afraid to step out and speak publicly how they feel.

Reuel Sample: 26:17

Well, you might be able to get Nikki away from surfing. She might be able to do something like that. I mean, she's got nothing else going on. Uh, so that's that's a tough. That's always been a tough thing for Republicans here in New Hanover County, basically, because we are a purple county. To find somebody who's going to run for mayor.

John Hinnant: 26:35

Yeah. And I you know, I remember life before Bill Saffo as our mayor and, uh, the mayor before him. Spence Broadhurst, was elected to a two year term reelected. And then within a few months, he got, um, relocated by his employer. The ten year, 12 years prior to that, we had a new mayor every two years. And and. Yeah, Bill, Bill's a friend, but Bill is like a sail in the wind. If you've got 3 or 4 Republicans on the board, he'll lean that way. He'll lean right. But, um, but he he, uh, he is um. He's right now he's leaning left because that's what he's got around him. And as a focus for me, I think the key to, to, to getting a majority on council is just that the mayor will be subjected to what the council does. So if we get four good Republicans on city council, we can control it. And so it's important that we try to pick up two seats, pick up a seat this this cycle and, and, and help Luke. Uh, Waddell. And then in the next cycle, try to pick up a couple more seats and so we can hopefully, uh, protect, uh, the, the, the, the future of our community. And one other thing I want to say about Bill. And I've asked the UNSW economist this over the years because the city of Charleston and everybody likes to compare us to Charleston, they had the same mayor for 38 years, 39 years, Mayor Joe Riley. Mhm. And um, and everybody looks to Charleston as a huge success. Right. Right. And and I don't. And you think about what's happened to downtown with Bill Saffo. Uh, downtown's really grown, but our whole community is really grown. And sometimes having a consistent person in that seat who's a good sales person, um, for our community, can raise GDP. But a lot of that good growth he did, he had three Republicans on his board. And so he was he was. So he would help broker a lot of deals. Um, and not everybody's happy with that. But he understood how to get deals done. Um, so so I would love to find us a Republican to run this cycle. And I'm working with Melissa. I'm going to try and help identify somebody as soon as I can.

Reuel Sample: 29:08

You know, that kind of, uh, sounds exactly like what now, former Governor Cooper. He would. He would proclaim all the time. Well, he helped grow the state. He helped, uh, bring in business and stuff like that. But it was basically a Republican controlled legislature that was doing all that stuff. And he was just the face in front of the cameras in the governor's house.

John Hinnant: 29:31

Right. He got to he got to attend all the ceremonies. Um, yeah. So, uh, you know, Cooper was in the General Assembly when they were they were voting on budgets that, uh, raised our debt, um, furloughed state employees. So it was Josh Stein. Josh. Josh Stein voted for budgets that furloughed state employees and voted for budgets that froze teacher pay. Uh, voted for budgets that put us $5 billion in debt. And so, um, yeah, I mean, they're going to try and take credit for whatever it is we do. Number one, business state to do business. That's because of the conservative principles of our legislature and the cut and taxes and cut and On regulation. And they did it without the governor because they'd had to override his vetoes a lot.

Nikki Bascome: 30:16

Yeah, a lot of his vetoes.

John Hinnant: 30:18

100 plus.

Nikki Bascome: 30:21

It was crazy.

John Hinnant: 30:22

Yeah.

Reuel Sample: 30:23

Well, the final thing that we had planned to talk with you about today, John, is that, uh, the, uh, John Locke, uh, Association, uh, who also runs the Carolina Journal, came out just, uh, a little bit ago, as of January 2025, that the majority of North Carolinians are dissatisfied with their school district. And this is not a small number. There is a, um, the the survey of 606 likely North Carolina voters, uh, said that, uh, only 33.3% said they were satisfied, while 55.2% said they were dissatisfied. This is an increase of 7.2 points. So for not only Republicans, but for people across the board, school districts, school boards are a big deal. We've got, uh, board members coming up next year for elections. Uh, what's your what are your thoughts on your long term plans and strategies for that?

John Hinnant: 31:26

I'm, uh, you know, one, the polling group that John Locke works with is exceptional. They're best in class, and their numbers are almost always accurate. Um, I'm heavily invested in this for candidates for school board because I helped get him elected. You know, we worked hard. Really. We worked really, really hard together in 22. And so I'm heavily invested in this race. I'm, uh, I'll have if there's if there's a primary, I'll have to sit. I'll have to focus on get out the vote. I won't be able to support a candidate until we get through the primaries. My role is chair, but, um, I'm going to be heavily invested in this race. I know there's going to be outside groups involved on both sides. Uh, and so it should it should be a wild experience, because I think there's going to be a lot of money in the race. And typically school board candidates don't raise a lot of money. Um, but I think, uh, I think we're going to have a lot of interest in that this coming cycle. Um, and based on some of the chatter from last night's convention, it's going to be pretty contentious. And so, uh, we know Pat has, uh, announced her intent to run for reelection. Uh, Pat Bradford. Um, uh, Jose still thinking about it? Uh, I did not get a chance to ask Melissa yet or Pete, so I don't I don't know where Pete Wildeboer and Melissa mason. I'm not sure where they are yet, but based on what happened last night, we we might see a it it might be for fine pay per view viewing. Right. So like, uh, so we might get a bigger we might use the same venue for a Republican primary board of education debate.

Reuel Sample: 33:04

So That would be very good. Very good. Uh.

John Hinnant: 33:08

Enough talk. And I've talked to a couple of people I think would be us. There's a couple of people who are interested in running for school board, and so they're waiting to see who runs and does not run. So.

Reuel Sample: 33:19

Well, it also helps that you have an inside track to that venue, uh, because you are a member of that church. So it is.

John Hinnant: 33:26

It is a special place for me. And I was, uh, I, my pastor, Kenny Chen, uh, yesterday, his son was in surgery. Um, and so I messaged him that we were lifting him up in prayer, and, uh, he's, uh, he's a good man. He's been the pastor there for 30 years. Average pastor's at a church for six. Uh, he's a conservative. And it's not because he believes that there's a male and female. It's because the Bible tells him so. So he's a Bible principle pastor. And, uh, I encourage anybody to visit eight nine 3011 on Sundays. Jamie and I attend at 930, and, um, it's a good. The music's beautiful. It's amazing. So.

Reuel Sample: 34:14

And I was talking to the receptionist yesterday before the convention. And you folks are actually bursting at the seams over there, so that's always. That's always a good thing.

John Hinnant: 34:22

We get almost 700 people at the 930 service.

Reuel Sample: 34:26

They're all coming to see you, John. All coming to see John.

John Hinnant: 34:32

Uh, it's, uh, they're coming from the. They're coming for the Word.

Reuel Sample: 34:35

I know that you are exhausted. You probably have doubled your text messages that are waiting to get replied to in just this short time. Time period. Uh, before we let you go, any final thoughts for for those, uh, you're on our podcast.

John Hinnant: 34:51

You know we like like I said earlier, any good organization occasionally has a family feud or a squabble, and that makes us healthy. That's not a sign of a sickness or an illness. It just makes us healthy. And so I just I just encourage everybody to tone it down a little bit. Think about how to say what you want to say in a more professional manner. At the end of the day, we're all Republicans and we need to behave in a more professional manner. Um, I'm not one to to. I was raised in a home that said, we're not going to raise our voice. We're going to talk to you. We're going to it's called correction, right? That's what a leader, a leader, a leader must be able to do correction. And to do that effectively, you have to do it with candor. And you can't use using the allowed voice is not being using candor. You have to be very direct. So that's the tone I'm going to bring. And that's that is my hope that we are, um, uh, we can have a conversation and settle our differences and move forward, because ultimately we got to get Republicans elected and that's that's the goal.

Reuel Sample: 36:10

So Chairman John Hinnant, all the best to you, sir.

John Hinnant: 36:14

Thank you so much. I appreciate the time.

Reuel Sample: 36:16

We're going to put you back in the green room and we'll talk to you very soon.

John Hinnant: 36:20

Thank you.

Nikki Bascome: 36:21

Thanks, John. Yep.

John Hinnant: 36:22

Have a good day.

Nikki Bascome: 36:23

You too.

Reuel Sample: 36:25

Oh, that was awesome. He's going to do a great job.

Nikki Bascome: 36:28

I'm excited to see what he does with the GOP here soon. It sounds like he's hitting the ground running today. And I'm glad to hear that. I know it's overwhelming for him to to get so many text messages and emails and phone calls, but I'm glad to hear that. That means that people are excited and and they're ready to get to work and they're ready to support the new the new leadership. And and hopefully that will continue on.

Reuel Sample: 36:58

So we referred a few times to some of the contentiousness of that last night, and it really isn't important about these, the specifics, and that'll probably be some ripple effects for the next couple of days. But in the end, Republicans really do need to focus and will focus on getting conservatives elected. So it's all part of the process. So he's both chairman and dad for the for the for the sometimes dysfunctional North Carolina. New Hanover County Republican party.

Nikki Bascome: 37:29

Well you know, it's so crazy. Um, I still have some hard feelings from things that happened in my campaign. And, um, and the one thing that I really tried to do is to not disparage anyone. To still be kind. I don't want I don't want to be around you. But I'm not going to be nasty to you. Just just turn around and walk away. You walk your direction. I'll walk my direction and still be Republicans and still vote the way you want to vote, and still feel the way that you want to feel without putting anyone else down. I just don't under. I don't understand it. I just don't.

Reuel Sample: 38:15

Well, I also, I, I want, uh, I want to reemphasize again, folks, that this really is supported by you. So make sure that you check out that link. We've got some really good merch. You've got uh, we've got, uh, coffee cups, we've got sweaters. We've got all that stuff that come along with those, uh, those, uh, those, uh, patrons and uh, you also have a chance to both listen live and ask questions while we're actually doing this. So please check out those tiers. That link is on our website as well as in the in the show notes.

Nikki Bascome: 38:49

And also speaking of our podcast and our live feeds, if you have something to say. Let's do an interview. If you have something interesting that you have going on in the community, we want to hear about it. We want to give a conservative voice. Yes. May not agree with me. May not agree with Reuel. But let's hear it. Let's talk about.

Reuel Sample: 39:13

You can contact us with those informations at podcasts@theWilmingtonConservative.com. That's podcasts@theWilmingtonconservative.com. We will respond to each one. Just like we we try to respond to all the comments that we get on this podcast. We've got to get them first. Well, folks, this has this is this has been the Nikki and Rule podcast experience. Always a great being with you. So once again, I'm Reuel Sample.

Nikki Bascome: 39:50

I'm Nikki Bascom.

Reuel Sample: 39:51

Thanks for listening.