ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Republican Ron Brooks, of Swampscott, thinks Trump will be the GOP nominee with party members rallying around him.
By THOR JOURGENSEN
SWAMPSCOTT — Far from bringing their party down in flaming ruins, local Republicans said Donald Trump’s run for president is sparking a much-needed debate over the GOP’s future.
Swampscott Republican activists Susan Withrow and Ron Brooks and former congressional candidates William Hudak and Richard Tisei said they see reasons to be optimistic in the middle of the billionaire businessman’s crusade for the presidency.
Hudak, a Saugus attorney, said Trump’s success in primary elections across the country is symbolic of a major upheaval in the Republican party. He said the party’s entrenched establishment is being challenged “by people who are fed up with the same old thing.”
Battle lines dividing Republicans at the national level are also dividing party members across Massachusetts, said Hudak.
“The party needs to grow up. The adults in the room are being crowded out by new emerging adults,” he said.
Brooks, who is active in the Swampscott Republican Town Committee, voted for Cruz in the March 1 Massachusetts primary, while Hudak voted for Trump.
Brooks insists Trump will be the GOP nominee with party members rallying around him.
Withrow, a Swampscott resident temporarily living in California, said party members must follow the rules at the Republican presidential convention in Cleveland and support the candidate who got the most votes.
“If the rules are tossed out, there will be a lot of faith lost in our party,” she said.
Tisei agrees with Withrow and said he will support the Republican presidential nominee. Republicans are not alone in facing a realignment in their party, said Tisei, who ran unsuccessfully in 2014 to represent the 6th Congressional District. He said Democrats are turning their backs on their party’s “socialist trend” even as some Republicans reject the GOP’s conservative wing.
“I subscribe to the theory that Trump is bringing a lot of new people into the party,” Tisei said. “Any time you have someone growing the party, it’s a good thing.”
Brooks acknowledged Trump’s candidacy has been marked by increased tensions in the Republican party but he said that friction has generated new energy and ideas. Withrow said Republicans must move quickly to harness these forces and revive the party.
“The GOP has a real opportunity to grow if it can shake off stagnant thinking, open up somewhat, and be able to adapt to current ideas. Nothing is static, including politics. This presidential cycle is historic, upheaving, and unpleasant. Take a deep breath, keep it civil, obey the rules, but let the party evolve,” she said.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected]