New chairwoman plans to unite local Republican Party
LEAVITTSBURG, Ohio (WKBN) — The new chairwoman of the Trumbull County Republican Party explained Thursday why she and her husband decided to make the community their home and get involved.
On Tuesday, Julia Shutt was voted in as the new chairwoman of the Trumbull County Republican Party.
For most of her 66 years, Shutt lived in the Cleveland suburb of Bay Village, first working in advertising and then with her husband in landscape design.
“We got burnt out in the business. My husband’s like let’s sell it,” Shutt said.
Then they decided to buy a house in Leavittsburg and live along the river.
“It was a little like being untethered, like a balloon being untethered. I was like, ‘What am I going to do? My people are all back on the other side of town,'” Shutt said.
So Shutt decided to get involved. She started attending Warren Township Trustees meetings, was appointed to the zoning board, and was elected to the Labrae School Board.
“As a Republican, I could see a need for grassroots community involvement and that’s the way you change things. It has to start with me,” she said.
Shutt says it’s all about getting along.
On Tuesday, officials of the Trumbull County Republican Party met to pick a new chairperson. Just 30 hours before the vote, Shutt’s friend called and asked if she would run. She discussed it with her husband.
“We talked a little bit. He goes, ‘You know what, I think you should do it. You’ve got my support,'” she said.
Shutt won by one vote on the second ballot, defeating long-time Republican official Marleah Campbell.
Shutt is now the chairwoman of the Trumbull County Republican Party with two opposing factions that don’t get along.
“And don’t even, really to this day, really quite understand what the sides are all about,” she said.
Shutt has a three-point plan to bring the party together: unite the party, attract good candidates, and promote the candidates who are running.
“If you want to talk to me about uniting, attracting and promoting people and candidates inside the party, you’ve got my ear. If you want to talk about something from the past and how you’re not just over it and what am I going to do about it, I don’t want to listen to it,” said Shutt.
Shutt is hoping to work closely with the woman she beat, Marleah Campbell. Shutt called Campbell brilliant, knowledgable, experienced, and a go-getter. She said they would make a great team.
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