Recently, the Luverne Rotary Club had a visit from the Alabama Republican Party Chairman, Terry Lathan.

“One of the wonderful benefits of being a state party chairman in Alabama is that I get to travel the back roads and visit people in small towns,” Lathan said.

“When I actually drive through Luverne, it reminded me of when I was a little girl with my grandmother in Natchez, Mississippi. It brought a real smile to my face, because I had a moment of going back in time and remembering downtown moments.”

While there, Lathan took the opportunity to speak on the recent election of President-elect Donald Trump, keeping the Congress in Republican control and also the many additional GOP seats picked up in Alabama counties.

“She’s done really well promoting the Republican Party and getting many elected officials to change parties and run on the Republican ballot,” said Terry Butts, member of the State Executive Committee.

“She talked about what the Republican Party stood for, less government, a strong national defense and a very conservative government. She generally talked about the strides that she felt like had been made in Alabama in the Republican Party.”

Lathan was originally scheduled to speak to the Rotarians the week following the general election; due to scheduling conflicts, the program was moved. Rotarian Mike Jones first contacted Lathan about the program, and was glad to see the positive feedback she received from the audience members.

“The way the election turned out, it was really interesting to get her insight into what had happened. Plus, I don’t know that we’ve ever had a Chairman of the Republican Party to visit before,” said Mike Jones, chairman of the Crenshaw County Republican Executive Committee.

“It was good to have her here and let us talk with her, because so often we get overlooked in the scheme of things.”

According to Lathan, 64 percent of Alabama voted for Donald Trump, which was fourth in the nation. Lathan also shared the following stats with the club: out of 119 contested races on the ballot, the GOP flipped 25 local offices from Democrat to Republican while keeping their other GOP seats across the state. The ALGOP now has elected officials in 75 percent of the counties, which is a record for the Republican Party.

She emphasized that the job of the GOP on all levels is to build infrastructure to win elections and highlighted the importance of elected officials then to govern as conservatives.

“The people there were open and delightful. They were very welcoming to me,” Lathan said.

“I did recognize that not everyone in the room was a Republican, but my comments were going to be through the eyes of the Republican Party. People seemed to appreciate that I recognized that.”

At the conclusion of her speech, Lathan took questions from the Rotarians, and afterwards met with members of the Crenshaw County Republican Executive Committee.