New Republican women’s group gears up
There’s a new club in Cape Coral for women who already are, or interested in, getting involved in the workings of government and politics.
Republican Women of Cape Coral Federated received its charter on April 7 from the Florida Federation of Republican Women and launched its activity by electing three officers to lead the group. Missi Lastra was elected president, Rana Erbrick as vice president and Max Dean as treasurer.
“We’re here to help educate and motivate women to run for office, campaign for candidates, to communicate and to just get involved,” said Lastra. “We encourage women to come out for our meetings and get involved in the community and to see what we’re about. We have fun, but we’re also serious.”
The first regular monthly dinner meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. on May 19 at the Water City Grill on Cape Coral Parkway. The first guest speaker is State Rep. Dane Eagle. Cost of the dinner is $25.
“We encourage the working folks to come to our meetings,” said Lastra. “Water City Grill is a wonderful venue, right here in Cape Coral, and the owners are wonderful people.”
Besides getting people registered to vote, RWCCF will adopt a non-profit charity or organization to help each year.
Erbrick, one of the founding leaders, indicated more than 70 people attended the launch meeting.
“Our focus will be on Cape Coral politics, the Republican agenda, and getting Republicans elected to city and county offices,” said Erbrick. “We will work closely with the other Federated clubs. The Lee County Republican Women and the state group have slightly different focuses favoring the state and national side, so we wanted to bridge the gap.”
The county group predominately is made up of Fort Myers residents and, consequently, focused on Fort Myers issues.
“Cape Coral is like the 10th largest city in number of voters, so it is very important to Florida,” said Lastra. “One club is not enough, but our sister club helped us get chartered and launched. We recognized that some issues are the same and some issues are different. We want to make sure our members are educated on the Cape and how government works.”
RWCCF will work to support Republican candidates and nominees at the county, state and national levels. Special events and fundraisers will be planned throughout the year.
“We will need to elect more club officers in the future,” said Erbrick, who is a Cape Coral City Council member. “For now we will depend on our membership and sponsorships.”
For more information on the group’s activities or to join visit the club’s website at republicanwomenofcapecoral.com, or call 239-257-9758.