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‘We have a value system to defend,’ President-Elect Crawford

 ELDRIGE, Iowa (December 4, 2024) – Michelle Crawford of Eldridge will lead the Iowa Federation of Republican Women in 2024-2025, as Republicans across the First in the Nation Caucus state continue the fight for life, liberty, border security, school choice, and the U.S. constitution in a crucial presidential election year.

Crawford, a businesswoman from Eastern Iowa and a former Scott County Republican Women president, was elected IowaFRW president at the fall convention in Des Moines. On Jan. 1, 2024, she will replace current president, Barbara Hames-Bryant of Cedar Rapids, who has served two consecutive terms, from 2020 through 2023.

“Iowa is the lead-off state for the entire presidential nominating process and nobody takes that job more seriously than IowaFRW members,” says president-elect Crawford. “As a group of more than 600 members all across Iowa, we volunteer 135,000 hours of our time each year to elect Republicans up and down the ticket from the White House to the school board.”

“Accepting the nomination as IowaFRW president was not a decision taken lightly,” Crawford notes. “As a wife and mom of three boys, family means everything to me and time is precious. However, I know the work we do is critical.  That is why I am eager to step into this role alongside a stellar team to continue the work IowaFRW has successfully done for decades.”

In addition to Crawford, the following officers were elected in October: Amy Meskimen, 1^st Vice President, Eldridge; Denise Bubeck, 2^nd Vice President, Grimes; Julie Ulrich, Secretary, Olin; Jen Dumas, Treasurer, LeClaire. In addition to these elected officers, Hames-Bryant will serve as Immediate Past President, and Crawford appointed the following women to serve at the executive level: Lori Leonard Reyman, Presidential Advisor, Holstein; Gloria Mazza, Presidential Advisor, Clive; Gwen Ecklund, Parliamentarian, Denison.

Hames-Bryant, who is the only woman to serve two consecutive terms as IowaFRW president, says that Americans in general, and Republican Women in particular, “are tired of the worthless tax-and-spend, open-border Democrat agenda.” She adds, with praise for the incoming president and optimism for the future, that Crawford is “an energetic and creative leader who will inspire Republican Women and increase our efforts to elect Republicans in 2024 and beyond.”

In pursuing and protecting Federation priorities, Crawford stresses that she will work with members statewide to host inspirational events and elevate conservative causes at the grassroots level, with a determined focus to accomplish the No. 1 goal of electing Republicans.

“In a time when our children are exploited and our border is wide open, with drugs and humans trafficked in every state, terrorism and war devastating the world, a White House in the hands of people who do not share our values and do not seem to care, our work as conscientious, conservative women has never been more critical. This is still America and we have a constitution and a value system to defend,” Crawford emphasizes.

The Iowa Federation of Republican, founded in Tama County in 1939, unites the voices and values within the Republican Party. The IowaFRW (www.iowafrw.org), with local clubs and members throughout the state, proudly represents the party that first made it possible for women to vote in the United States, and works to increase the effectiveness of women in the cause of good government. IowaFRW members volunteer more than 100,000 hours annually to fulfill our mission to elect Republican candidates, promote the principles of the Republican Party, educate the public, and inform the media. IowaFRW is a member organization of the National Federation of Republican Women, the largest grassroots Republican women’s organization in the country, founded in 1938.

lori@iowafrw.org