The Baldwin County Republican Party (GOP) is taking precautionary measures to protect candidates and attendees in the wake of the death of Turning Point USA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk.
Baldwin County GOP chairman Kathy Morelock told 1819 News that there have been no problems so far, but due to incidents in recent days and weeks, she felt it was important to implement security measures.
"We're just doing some really simple things," Morelock explained. "First of all, we encourage people to attend our meetings. We want people to come and listen to the candidates, and that's something that we have always encouraged, and we want to continue that. But at the same time, we want people to feel safe when they come to our meetings and listen to the candidates, and because many of them are coming there for the right reasons, they want to hear what the candidates have to say."
Security measures include registration and name tags for attendees. As candidates visit auxiliary groups throughout Baldwin County, security will be provided in some situations to ensure there are no disruptions.
Morelock hopes the precautions are successful and allow people to feel safe at meetings.
"Hopefully, we will not have any problems, but we just want to continue to have open meetings where people who really want to hear the candidates can come and do that without disruption," she said.
Since Kirk's assassination, Morelock said she has witnessed a movement among conservatives.
"It seems like people are very involved right now and very concerned about what happened, and a lot of conservative people are very outraged by the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and I think it's caused a lot of people to want to pay more attention to what's going on," Morelock said.
Around 2,000 people attended a vigil for Kirk in Foley Saturday night, and Morelock said Republican social media pages have received many inquiries.
Morelock said the exchange of information is essential during this election cycle.
"How else are our voters going to find out what candidates really think or what their platform is if they don't have an open dialogue – if they can't ask questions and get answers and it be respectful?" said Morelock. "And that's what we're trying to promote – a respectful exchange of dialogue and conversation and ideas."
Meetings are open to the public. The Baldwin County GOP has four auxiliary groups: North Baldwin Republican Women, Eastern Shore Republican Women, Point Clear Republican Women and South Baldwin Republican Women. There is also the Baldwin County Young Republicans, Think Tank and Coffee Club. Meeting information is posted online.
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