Ron Nehring

Ronald "Ron" Nehring (born May 20, 1970) is a Republican strategist, commentator and lecturer. He is the immediate past Chairman of the California Republican Party, the largest state Republican Party in the United States. He was unanimously elected to two terms, serving from February 2007 to March 2011.

Early life
Ron Nehring is the only son of German immigrants who settled in New York on Long Island in 1961. He graduated from Islip High School in June 1988 and was a competition cyclist from 1984 to 1988.

Education
Nehring earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Stony Brook University (SUNY Stony Brook) in May 1992 and was recognized by the University for "Outstanding Undergraduate Achievement." He later completed graduate coursework in government at the American University in Washington, D.C. before moving to San Diego, California in 1996. During his time at Stony Brook, Nehring was elected four times to the post of President of the campus chapter of the College Republicans. He worked on numerous campaigns in Suffolk County, New York in the towns of Brookhaven and Southampton while an undergraduate student. In January 1992 while a college senior he traveled to New Hampshire to campaign for the re-election of then-President George H.W. Bush.

Republican Party of San Diego County
On July 9, 2001 Nehring was unanimously elected Chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego County, one of the largest counties in America, determined to make the Republican Party the "dominant political force" in the region. He was re-elected unanimously in 2003, 2005 and 2007. He resigned as Chairman in April 2007 after being elected Chairman of the California Republican Party. During his tenure as county Republican leader, the party built a large, sophisticated Republican voter turnout operation stressing in-person contact with voters while fundraising increased to over $1 million per year in 2005 and 2006, a record for the organization.

California Republican Party
In February 2003 Nehring was unanimously elected President of the California Republican County Chairmen's Association, an organization within the California Republican Party representing the 58 county Republican leaders in the state. In 2005 he was elected by acclamation to the post of Vice Chairman of the California Republican Party, and in 2007 as Chairman where he served two successful terms, facing no opposition. He stepped down in March 2010 due to term limits.

As Chairman, Nehring championed the adoption of several major reforms to professionalize financial management of the party. Specifically, rules were adopted to prevent the party from carrying large debts from one election cycle to the next. Nehring authored rules changes requiring the establishment and funding of cash reserves, prohibiting indebtedness not repaid within the same election cycle, improving budgeting and reporting processes, and allowing the party to engage in independent expenditure campaigns. At the start of his tenure as Chairman the California Republican Party carried $4.1 million in debt. At the end of the 2010, the party had cash reserves in excess of $425,000 and no debt.

Republican National Committee
Nehring served for four years as a member of the 168-member Republican National Committee, the national governing body of the Republican Party. At the 2009 organizational meeting of the Republican National Committee, then-Chairman Mike Duncan appointed Nehring to serve as the Sergeant-at-Arms for the meeting where he was responsible for custody of the ballots throughout the meeting which ultimately elected Michael Steele to the post of RNC Chairman.

In April 2009 then-RNC Chairman Michael Steele appointed Nehring to the post of Chairman of the RNC's State Chairmen's Committee, the body consisting of the RNC's 56 state and territorial leaders. In this role Nehring focused the committee's efforts on sharing ideas and best practices among the state leaders.

Local Government
From 2004 through 2006, Nehring served as a Trustee for the Grossmont Union High School District, a large school district in east San Diego County with 11 high schools and an annual budget exceeding $170 million. As a strong proponent of charter schools and education reform, he proposed a comprehensive plan for sharply increasing the number of charter schools in the district. He served as the Chairman of the district's Audit Committee.

State Government
In 2005, he was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection where he brought his experiences from the 2003 Cedar Fire which destroyed over 2,000 homes.

Awards and Recognition
Stony Brook University recognized Nehring with its "Distinguished Alumnus Award" in May 2010 at a ceremony where he addressed the graduates of the university's Political Science Department. The College Republican National Committee recognized Nehring with its "Distinguished Alumnus Award" in 2010. The Conservative Order for Good Government awarded Nehring its Silver Cogg Award in September 2002 in recognition of his leadership in revitalizing the county Republican Party.