Latest / Brian Thomas / Brian talks to Ohio Republican Party Chair Alen Triantifillou 5/6/2026

Transcript

Brian talks to Ohio Republican Party Chair Alen Triantifillou 5/6/2026 · Brian Thomas

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  Speaker 1: Six thirty one and fifty five Kara Ceed Talk Station
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  Speaker 1: EMPY Wednesday. Hope see you listener lunch today snows Lakeside Tavern.
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  Speaker 1: And again, please pray for Joe Strucker. Had a medical
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  Speaker 1: emergency yesterday, so he is not in and I'm hoping
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  Speaker 1: for his speedy recovery. And I'm pleased to hear from
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  Speaker 1: Alex Charantefilo, head of the High Republican Party. And congratulations
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  Speaker 1: Alex Trantefilo sixty one to thirty nine yesterday for State
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  Speaker 1: Central Committee, besting Kurt Hartman. And Alex. Good to have
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  Speaker 1: you back on the show.
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  Speaker 2: It's been a while, sir, Brian. Good to be with you.
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  Speaker 2: And I got to tell you I'm sorry to hear
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  Speaker 2: about our friend Joe. I just just pick it up
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  Speaker 2: on that so we'll keep a good thought for Joe Strucker.
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  Speaker 2: But thanks for having me on, Brian.
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  Speaker 1: I love talking with you. I appreciate you your willingness
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  Speaker 1: to speak with me in the listening audience here this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Your reaction just generally speaking to yesterday's primary results, I
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  Speaker 1: turn out. Some were saying turnout was really high since
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  Speaker 1: we got basically twenty percent of the voters to actually
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  Speaker 1: show up. Although I still view that as pathetic, Alex,
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  Speaker 1: but it is what it is, and your your reactions
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  Speaker 1: to some of the races, any of them stand out.
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  Speaker 1: Viva Gramas on me obviously walked away with it eighty
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  Speaker 1: two to seventeen percent for a rebake.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, we feel very good, very bullish actually
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  Speaker 2: at the Republican Party and Brian, Look, I'm realistic about
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  Speaker 2: midterm elections. I know what the numbers are, I know
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  Speaker 2: what the polling is. You know, we see these things routinely.
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  Speaker 2: Midterms are generally a challenge for the party in power.
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  Speaker 2: But the Sabany Ohio Republican Party this morning is very strong.
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  Speaker 2: We did make an endorsement in the Vike Ramaswami race,
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  Speaker 2: who joined with President Trump and doing so Vi Vike
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  Speaker 2: really never had a real primary, let's just be honest
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  Speaker 2: about that. So he won every single county last night,
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  Speaker 2: want an overwhelming majority of the vote, you know, more
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  Speaker 2: than eighty percent of the vote in his primary. And
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  Speaker 2: you know, if you look at the numbers, we turned
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  Speaker 2: out a bigger raw number of Republican voters last night
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  Speaker 2: to the Democrats statewide, and so that's good news for us. Look,
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  Speaker 2: We've got our work cutout for us in the fall.
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  Speaker 2: It's to turn out our vote. That's our number one
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  Speaker 2: challenge in twenty twenty six is to turn out a
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  Speaker 2: massive number of Republican votes. And you know you've got
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  Speaker 2: many strategies to do that from you know, the next
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  Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty days. And I, you know, I
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  Speaker 2: feel very good about it. And as it relates to
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  Speaker 2: my race, I thank you for your kind words. Uh,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we worked hard, and I'm glad to be
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  Speaker 2: victorious in my state central race.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and you know, I wish you all the best,
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  Speaker 1: and I know you try to do your best to
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  Speaker 1: represent well. And sometimes, Alex, I gotta be honest with you.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like I want to apologize for you, because
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  Speaker 1: quite often you personally will get some criticism from various
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  Speaker 1: listeners who call in and chime in on the topic,
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  Speaker 1: and I have to step back and say, listen, you
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  Speaker 1: know what I know about Alex and how he has
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  Speaker 1: to run his job or kind of two different things.
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  Speaker 1: But he can't be critical of Republicans. It's sort of
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  Speaker 1: like it's a line that you can't cross. Yes, there
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  Speaker 1: are various factions within the Republican Party. Some people call
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  Speaker 1: them rhinos and others call them yeah whatever, But it's
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  Speaker 1: your Republican party and you have to deal with all
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  Speaker 1: facets within the umbrella of Republican I imagine you find
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  Speaker 1: that job to be challenging from time to time.
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  Speaker 2: Alex. Look, I've been a party chairman for a long time,
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  Speaker 2: first at the county level and then at the state
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  Speaker 2: and I know that job as well as anybody, and
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  Speaker 2: dare I say it immodestly, as well as anybody in
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  Speaker 2: the country. I've just been a chairman. The chairman takes grief, Brian.
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  Speaker 2: It just comes with the job. I mean, you know,
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  Speaker 2: on any given day, people will call in and suggest
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  Speaker 2: that we've sold out the party to Donald Trump, and
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  Speaker 2: we're you know, we're we've walked away from the principles
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  Speaker 2: of the Republican Party. The next call will come in
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  Speaker 2: and it will suggest that we're a bunch of rhinos.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you get it from both sides, you get
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  Speaker 2: it from all camps. That's just part of leadership. For
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  Speaker 2: me personally, I'm not deterred by any of that. I
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  Speaker 2: love the Republican movement, I love the conservative movement. I'm
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  Speaker 2: motivated to do this, not believe me, not out of
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  Speaker 2: any personal gain, but primarily out of a love of
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  Speaker 2: my country, and I believe that the conservative principles of
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  Speaker 2: the Republican Party are actively saving the country. I'll work
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  Speaker 2: with anybody that wants to work with me, but too
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  Speaker 2: many people, frankly, don't understand ultimately with the Republican Party
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  Speaker 2: as entity Briant is about. If you look at the
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  Speaker 2: Ohio Republican Party long before I got there, but especially frankly,
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  Speaker 2: during my three year tenure, We've had an incredible run
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  Speaker 2: of victories. We're designed to win races. We've won. We've
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  Speaker 2: beat Shared Brown, We've won the governor's race, every executive office.
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  Speaker 2: We have supermajorities in the House, in the Senate, we
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  Speaker 2: control six of seven of these Supreme Court races. So
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  Speaker 2: we win. We win in Ohio at the Ohio Republican Party.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what I'm here to do. I'm here to
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  Speaker 2: help us win elections and use whatever skill and experience
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  Speaker 2: that I have to help us do that. And I
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  Speaker 2: look forward to doing that. We'll get past this primary
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  Speaker 2: primaries are what they are. They're ugly sometimes, but the
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  Speaker 2: adults in the political room, Brian, know that we have
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  Speaker 2: to come together. Now. We have one hundred and eighty
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  Speaker 2: days to push back on the socialist amy acting to
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  Speaker 2: push back on this national move to win the United
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  Speaker 2: States Senate. We've got an elect John huestaid, certainly vi
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  Speaker 2: Vaik is going to be very well positioned to be
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  Speaker 2: our next governor as a businessman and an ouse, really
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  Speaker 2: a dream boat candidate if you're not really believe in
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  Speaker 2: conservative principles and an outsider drain the swamp mentality, the
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  Speaker 2: vike Romas Swami will bring that. So that's where we
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  Speaker 2: are today, and we're pretty pleased about it.
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  Speaker 1: You sound like it, and I'm I feel equally enthused
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  Speaker 1: here in Ohio. A little more concern on a national
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  Speaker 1: level given the war and the gas price increase, But
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  Speaker 1: I have a comment or two on that. Can I
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  Speaker 1: hold you over where you spend a few more minutes
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  Speaker 1: with my listeners and me after the break?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely great?
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  Speaker 1: It is six forty one. If you have case the
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  Speaker 1: talk station right Thomas with Alex Trumppilo, head of the
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  Speaker 1: Hamlet or head of the Hio Republican Party. Always want
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  Speaker 1: to say Hamilton Kundy Republican Party, because that's what you
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  Speaker 1: were for so long but that allows me to ask
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  Speaker 1: a question. One of my listener friends had asked the question.
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  Speaker 1: I had it on my list of things to ask you. Anyway,
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  Speaker 1: I got to profess I was Alex. I was a
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  Speaker 1: little disturbed at Hamilton County and all of the open
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  Speaker 1: spots no Republican judicial candidates on the primary. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: just if you held your hand up and say I
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  Speaker 1: will run for as a Republican, it was going to
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  Speaker 1: be unopposed at least had a chance to go into
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  Speaker 1: November and try. People have thrown in the towel. Is
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  Speaker 1: this a growing phenomenon or is this just Hamilton County?
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  Speaker 1: What do you see around the state and why won't
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  Speaker 1: Republicans run in these races?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're correct. It's been three years since I
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  Speaker 2: left that job ran as you know. But listen, I
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  Speaker 2: know it just from osposis and the things that pick up,
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  Speaker 2: and you know, I still still have a house here
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  Speaker 2: in Cincinnati and stuff. Anyway, all I have to tell
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  Speaker 2: you that it's hard, and Brian, you're a uniquely a
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  Speaker 2: position to understand this as a lawyer in your own right.
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  Speaker 2: If you're practicing law and things are coming along well,
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  Speaker 2: and you know you have a good, thriving practice. To
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  Speaker 2: step away and run in a race that feels unwinnable
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  Speaker 2: is a real challenge, and it's hard to have your
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  Speaker 2: partners support that. It's hard to have your clients understand
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  Speaker 2: that you're not with them, you know, all the time
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  Speaker 2: when you're campaigning, and those kind of things really make
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  Speaker 2: it harder. And you know, again, Brian, I've been around
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  Speaker 2: long enough to remember when we is Republicans won everything
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  Speaker 2: in Hamilton County my first frankly ten years as the
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  Speaker 2: county chairman. You know, we did things like win back
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  Speaker 2: the county commissioners and the Democrats, et cetera. Democrats had
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  Speaker 2: the exact same problem. We would have judicial candidates unopposed.
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  Speaker 2: So there's a myth out there, Brian that maybe if
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  Speaker 2: people are listening to actually accept my response here, but
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  Speaker 2: that the party can simply walk in, tap you and
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  Speaker 2: make you run for office. That's just not right. That's
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  Speaker 2: not the way it works. And to get good qualified
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  Speaker 2: attorneys to run for these judicial spots when they have
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  Speaker 2: a healthy practice and an otherwise of good life, when
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  Speaker 2: they know that, you know, this county now is one
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  Speaker 2: of three or four in the state. That's pretty decidedly blue.
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  Speaker 2: It's hard to get people to do it. I think
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  Speaker 2: that's ultimately the answer. And while people may see that
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  Speaker 2: as a failure of the County Republican Party. You can
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  Speaker 2: do a lot of cajoling and arm twisting, and but
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  Speaker 2: you have to have people step up and actually agree
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  Speaker 2: to run. And that's the challenge, Brian, is that people
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  Speaker 2: just look at that race and they know it's a
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  Speaker 2: challenge for them, especially in the general election, so that
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  Speaker 2: they don't want to put themselves out there and you know,
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  Speaker 2: hurt their law practice and take time away from their family.
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  Speaker 1: I get all that, and I understand it. Now assume
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  Speaker 1: you can find someone to run. Is it not possible?
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  Speaker 1: And there's a predicate for this question, because it sounds absurd.
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  Speaker 1: Is it not possible that Democrats might vote for a
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  Speaker 1: tough on crime Republican endorsed judge, because here in Hamilton
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  Speaker 1: County we got a real problem with crime and a
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  Speaker 1: lot of it goes over to the prosecutor's office as
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  Speaker 1: well as the bench, which is very liberal. It's comprised
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  Speaker 1: with a bunch of left leaning judges who want to
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  Speaker 1: do whatever they believe to be criminal justice reform, which
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  Speaker 1: basically lets people out that have committed heinous crimes. You know,
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  Speaker 1: no bond. We've got people that are recidivous to keep
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  Speaker 1: getting let out. It's a revolving door of justice. I
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  Speaker 1: can see a Democrat going, you know what, no, Moss,
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  Speaker 1: I will not vote for one of these left leaning,
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  Speaker 1: woke judges anymore. Give me a heart on crime Republican
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  Speaker 1: because my neighborhood's going to hell in a handbasket. So
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  Speaker 1: that's possible. But if there's no one there to get
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  Speaker 1: them the option to Democrats, then they're stuck with the
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  Speaker 1: left leaning judge that they that they or that they
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  Speaker 1: ran for office now pivoting over you mentioned. Voter turnout
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  Speaker 1: in November is going to be critical here in Ohio
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  Speaker 1: for a lot of reasons. Let's look at the war.
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  Speaker 1: Gasoline prices have gone through the roof, and I struggle
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  Speaker 1: with the idea that gasoline prices are somehow going to
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  Speaker 1: cause a Republican to vote for some crazy loon, left
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  Speaker 1: wing socialist candidate because they're individually pissed off about the
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  Speaker 1: price of gas. Would I give up my values because
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  Speaker 1: the price has gone up on something and vote for
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  Speaker 1: someone who represents the antithesis of everything. I believe, no way,
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  Speaker 1: and I can't believe that people would actually do that.
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  Speaker 1: But that's the suggestion Democrats are going to get a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of seats in Congress because well, Donald Trump, evil
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  Speaker 1: Orange man. Doesn't this come down to voter turnout? Alex?
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  Speaker 1: Will the Democrats actually win in November if the Republicans
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  Speaker 1: show up in large numbers?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? He answered, that's the final question there is yes.
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  Speaker 2: And this is the challenge of really across the country.
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  Speaker 2: For us in Ohio, it's easy in twenty twenty four,
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  Speaker 2: we want everything with a Donald Trump style turnout in Ohio.
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  Speaker 2: We just have to do the very same thing here,
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  Speaker 2: and that is to remind people about what the stakes
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  Speaker 2: are in the race like this. You know, look, the
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  Speaker 2: Democrats are impeachment crazy. They will try to impeach President
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  Speaker 2: Trump if they have a chance. They did it last
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  Speaker 2: time they were in power. They did a couple three times.
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  Speaker 2: So we have to point out the stakes. You know,
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  Speaker 2: on gas prices, I actually am confident. If you look
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  Speaker 2: this morning breaking news here in the Wall Street Journal,
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  Speaker 2: the oil prices plunged overnight. Their talk of diplomacy, oil
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  Speaker 2: prices are going to go up and down. I feel
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  Speaker 2: like the gas prices will level off and come down
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  Speaker 2: and look they were. Yeah. So anyway, the answer is
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  Speaker 2: we have to turn out our votes. We have to
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  Speaker 2: remind people. I want to can what you just said
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  Speaker 2: about principles brought in how important they are, but you
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  Speaker 2: go to vote and to not abandon those principles. Because
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  Speaker 2: the price and gas went up because Donald Trump finally
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  Speaker 2: had the guts I'm not going to use the other
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  Speaker 2: word I want to use there. Yeah, but he had
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  Speaker 2: the guts to take on the Iranian nuclear challenge. And
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  Speaker 2: we've had president after president talk about it. One president
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  Speaker 2: finally said I've got to act. Yeah, so we're paying
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  Speaker 2: small price at the at the pump, yes, but ultimately
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  Speaker 2: those people cannot have a nuclear weapon. The President's been
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  Speaker 2: clear about that. So you know, I hope that resolved.
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  Speaker 2: I think it will. I think it will by Midsummer.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and you know, the Republicans are on the side,
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  Speaker 1: on the right side of so many eighty twenty issues,
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  Speaker 1: you know, But that's how Donald Trump got elected. He
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  Speaker 1: was on the right side of all these important issues,
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  Speaker 1: including issues that are important to Democrats who was on
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  Speaker 1: the right side because a lot of Democrats feel the
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  Speaker 1: same way that you know Republicans do in so far
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  Speaker 1: as maybe border security and illegal immigration, the LGBTQ plus
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  Speaker 1: plus plus plus argument. You know, we just go on
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  Speaker 1: and on. It just blows my mind that these left,
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  Speaker 1: these further and further Zorhan Mandami type democrats are getting
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  Speaker 1: elected and that they can be they can best a challenger.
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  Speaker 1: I live in a strange world. Going back to your point,
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  Speaker 1: I too remember the day when Hamilton County was blood red.
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  Speaker 1: The world's a different place, Alex, and we got to
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  Speaker 1: do something to stop this title wave of leftism.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I agree completely. And look that's what I wake
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  Speaker 2: up thinking about every single day and what we're doing
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  Speaker 2: here in Ohio. And I won't get into the nitty gritty,
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  Speaker 2: but we have an incredible data set, Brian, that we
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  Speaker 2: know who the people are who stay home. That's how
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  Speaker 2: good the sort of political science is in the year
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. We know those people that we have
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  Speaker 2: to talk to, so we intend to knock their doors,
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  Speaker 2: send them a tech, deliver them mail, call them and
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  Speaker 2: urge them to get out. And if you're listening today,
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  Speaker 2: you're worried about a big Democrat wave a blue wave
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  Speaker 2: here in November. You can help us. You can really
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  Speaker 2: help us by making sure that you tell everybody in
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  Speaker 2: your orbit to get out and vote. Make sure your
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  Speaker 2: family's properly registered, and go on your social media, your Twitter,
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  Speaker 2: your Facebook, your LinkedIn, whatever, and remind everyone that this
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  Speaker 2: election cannot be one that we sit out. So if
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  Speaker 2: we turn out a massive number of votes, we can
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  Speaker 2: win and defy history. When I say define history, I
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  Speaker 2: mean you know, we know that midterm is gonna be
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  Speaker 2: tough at the party in power. So that's it. The
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  Speaker 2: stakes are very high, Brian, very high.
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  Speaker 1: Very high. But a note of optimism. I detected that
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  Speaker 1: in your voice, Alex Charantapila. We will talk again soon,
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  Speaker 1: I hope. Keep up the great work and congratulations on
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  Speaker 1: the victory, and we'll see how things go as we
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  Speaker 1: fast approach November, Alex, have a wonderful week and weekend.
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  Speaker 2: Sir, God bless you. Brian. Thanks so much, and you.
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  Speaker 1: Sir six forty nine fifty five KRC the talk station. Wow, Well,
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  Speaker 1: get out and vote. What more can you say?