https://www.newmexicopoliticaljourn...9fblogPostId=00647e2eecd44a6ebfbce2df055c2a05
Monday, August 12, 2019
Rosie Tripp, the long-time and much-beloved Republican National Committeewoman for New Mexico, has decided to retire from her position at the RNC following the 2020 Republican National Convention next year.
Tripp, who is from Socorro, was elected in 1996 following the resignation of Committeewoman Laree Estes Perez of Corrales. She has been re-elected five times, and will have served six terms, or 24 years in the position. She has been very popular throughout the state, and faced an opponent only once during her tenure.
Tripp has also let it be known she is supporting a current county chairwoman to succeed her at the RNC. (More on that below.)
The terms of Republican National Committeewomen begin and end at the end of the national convention, so even though Tripp’s successor will be chosen in June or July of next year, Tripp will continue to serve through the end of the Republican National Convention, which will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina from August 24th to August 27th, 2020.
ROSALIND FRANCES GIVENS TRIPP
Tripp, who will turn 73 this October, moved with her family to Socorro when she was six-years-old. She attended the public schools in Socorro, graduating from Socorro High School in 1964. She later attended the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology in Socorro. At the beginning of her senior year in high school, she met Don Tripp, who had moved to town with his family from Ruidoso.
On Tuesday, August 13, they will have been married for 53 years. The Tripps have two children, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Rosie and Don own Tripp's, Inc., a jewelry manufacturing business based in Socorro. They also own a number of other business and real estate interests. (Don Tripp served as a state representative from 1998 to 2018. From 2015 through 2016, he was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the first Republican to hold that position since 1954.)
POLITICAL CAREER
Rosie Tripp has always been an active, hard-working Republican, promoting and supporting Republican candidates and causes. She became Chairwoman of the Socorro County Republican Party back in 1987, serving until 1991. She has continued to be very active in the New Mexico Federation of Republican Women, and even served as Secretary of the New Mexico state FRW from 1993 through 1995.
She served as a member of the New Mexico Governor's Business Advisory Council from 1986 to 1990 under Governor Garrey Carruthers and from 1995 to 1997 under Governor Gary Johnson. She was also a member of Gary Johnson's Victory Club in 1995.
In 1996, Rosie was elected to the first of her two terms on the Socorro City Council, being reelected in 2000. And in 2002, she was elected to the first of two terms on the Socorro County Commission. For a brief period in 2003 and early 2004, she served in both positions simultaneously. She chaired the county commission for two years.
NATIONAL COMMITTEEWOMAN
Since her first election in 1996, Tripp has served on several RNC committees, including the Committee on Contests in 2000, the Site Selection Committee in 2004, and the Redistricting Committee in 2010. She also served as the Assistant Secretary for the 2008 Republican National Convention.
More recently she has been serving on the Temporary Committee on Elections, the Rules Committee at the 2016 National Convention, and the all-important Committee on Arrangements, which is tasked with the multiple logistical challenges of a national convention, including lodging, transportation, security, and the delegate experience.
2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
During the 2016 New Mexico GOP state convention, Tripp expressed support for 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and encouraged party members to support Trump's campaign, saying:
"It’s essential for our chances in November that we coalesce around Donald Trump. Politics is a team sport and we can’t win unless we rally around all of our candidates.”
Tripp was an RNC delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from New Mexico and was one of 24 delegates from New Mexico bound by state party rules to support Donald Trump at the convention. She was also a member of the RNC Rules Committee, a 112-member body responsible for crafting the official rules of the Republican Party, including the rules that governed the 2016 Republican National Convention.
