Reagan Picnic with Mike Pence

On Friday, June 17, the Harrison County Republican Party hosted our first-ever Reagan Picnic at Nevin Park in Corydon.

Despite the rainstorm that swept through Corydon right before the event began, the picnic was an enormous success (fortunately, it was held indoors).

According to Nevin Park owner Wayne Conrad, who used a clicker to conduct a headcount, there were 325 people in attendance, which is among the largest crowds (if not the record largest crowd ever) for an event held by the Harrison County Republican Party.

A photo gallery of pictures from the event is available here.

Congressman Mike Pence speaks at the Reagan Picnic.

This was one of Congressman Mike Pence’s first stops on the campaign trail since announcing last weekend that he was running for governor. Since the state of Indiana got its start in Corydon, it was pretty fitting that he chose to come here at the start of his gubernatorial campaign.

Pence gave a great speech centered around creating “an even better Indiana” based on the pillars of “good jobs, great schools, safe streets and strong families.” The crowd gave him several standing ovations.

Afterward, the Harrison County GOP gave Congressman Pence a handmade glass elephant crafted by Zimmerman Art Glass in Corydon as a gift to remember his visit to Harrison County.

If you couldn’t make it to the picnic, we hope to have some video of Pence’s speech up on YouTube later this week.

Congressman Pence with Maegan, Brad, and Westin DeVore.

The Harrison County GOP wants to extend its thanks to everyone that came out to enjoy the picnic, support the Harrison County Republican Party, and hear from our speaker, United States Congressman and Indiana gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence.

Thanks also to the army of volunteers that made the event possible, the folks that bid in the silent auctions, and to Congressman Pence for his remarks. The event could not have been such a great success without them.

~

Before the picnic, a straw poll was conducted for preferred candidates for president and U.S. Senate. Attendees were given the opportunity to vote as they came through the door, and the votes were counted during dinner. Approximately half of the picnic attendees voted in the straw poll.

The results of the straw poll were as follows:

President
1. Mitt Romney – 26%
2. Michelle Bachmann – 15%
3. Hermain Cain, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry – 11% each (tie)
6. Tim Pawlenty – 8%
All other candidates received less than 8% of the vote.

United States Senate
1. Richard Mourdock – 80%
2. Richard Lugar – 20%

The straw poll was a “snap” poll. It was impromptu and was not advertised. No notice was given in advance that it was going to be taking place. The counting was conducted by Harrison County Clerk Sherry Brown and local businessman George Ethridge.

A similar straw poll was also held in April at the annual Harrison County Lincoln Day banquet. Despite the different audiences in attendance (the picnic being more broadly attended than the Lincoln Day Dinner), Mourdock won that poll by a similar margin.

Mitch Daniels won the Lincoln Day presidential straw poll and Mike Huckabee came in second. Since April, both have announced that they will not run for president, so a new straw poll was held at the picnic.