The Republican Party, which many say traces its origins to a meeting at the small Baptist church in the Allegany County Village of Friendship, continues its evolution from that May afternoon in 1854.
It is said that conclave organizers took the suggestion of New York Tribune Editor Horace Greeley that day and named their new party “Republican.” Since then, the party has changed in many ways over the decades. Events of the past week demonstrate the changes continue.
Former County Executive Joel Giambra recognized that metamorphosis first hand last week. He ended his bid for the State Senate, said he will change his party registration from Republican to unaffiliated, and pronounced he no longer wants anything to do with the Party of Donald Trump.
“I cannot stand with party leaders who double down in their support of the NRA after yet another mass shooting; who applauds the decision to take away a woman’s right to choose, and who encourages the elimination of LGBTQ rights,” he said in a surprise move, adding that he cannot continue in a party that a few days earlier nominated for governor a candidate – Rep Lee Zeldin of Suffolk County – aligned with the former president.
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Giambra had come full circle. His announcement prompted the Politics Column to recall a 1998 Saturday lunch in Fort Erie with the then-Democratic Buffalo comptroller as he contemplated a switch to the GOP. He was looking forward to the county executive race the next year, and his ideas about regional government and reducing its cost weren’t receiving much love among his fellow Democrats.
In early November of that year, he officially joined the Republican Party during a press conference at Waterfront School.
“I’m pro choice; I have no ideological affection for the fundamentalist, religious right,” Giambra said then. “The state’s Republican leadership is attempting to redefine the party, and I’m attracted to its philosophy. And I’ve got to go to a party that is at least willing to go with new ideas.”
Giambra achieved significant success as a Republican, defeating three-term incumbent Dennis Gorski in 1999 and winning another term in 2003. But he encountered insurmountable roadblocks after proposing in his second term “red and green” budgets that threatened drastic tax hikes and cutbacks that dragged the county into supervision by a financial control board.
Still, he won two terms, demonstrated that Erie County could return to the GOP by attracting Repubs and Dems in a “Giambracrat” coalition, and that new ideas were possible.
Last week Giambra finally recognized the GOP had passed him by. Over the past few years he proposed running for all kinds of offices, including governor, never recognizing that his self-proclaimed “moderate” label would never survive a primary. When Zeldin triumphed as a Trump ally on June 28, Giambra finally saw the light. There was no room for him.
All of these gains new significance as reports indicate Trump may announce his 2024 presidential candidacy as early as this month. But it is interesting to note that a quick survey last week of Western New York Republican chairs about Trump and another term failed to gain even one commitment. Four said it was too early for such talk. Two were unavailable. One did not return a call and one never called back once he found out the question.
Wyoming County Chairwoman Ellen Grant may have summed it up best.
“People in our county would love to see him have another term as president,” she said. “Others feel he had his opportunity and would like to see who else is out there.
“I would be interested to see who else is out there,” she added.
It all points to a party that remains under the former president’s spell. Some, like Zeldin, cruise to a primary victory while embracing Trump. Others, like Giambra, reject the party because of Trump. And the local chairs don’t seem to know quite what to do.
We wonder what they would have thought in Friendship at the Baptist church, that day back in 1854.
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