Democratic legislators in Wisconsin and Indiana did not flee their jobs because Republican Governors proposed bold comprehensive reforms to balance their budgets and create job growth in their states. These Democratic legislators fled their jobs because there were new Republican legislative majorities poised to enact these comprehensive reforms in Wisconsin and Indiana. State legislative elections matter.

Elections for state Attorneys General also matter as we saw when Republican Attorneys General rallied to challenge the overreaching Obama healthcare law. As home to the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association (RLGA), the RSLC knows elections for Lieutenant Governors matter as we cheered just weeks ago when Republican Lt. Governor Bill Bolling of Virginia cast the tie breaking vote on an amendment to Senate Bill 924 that will require new regulatory standards to protect the health of patients in Virginia’s abortion clinics.

And, yes, elections matter in how our state and federal elections are conducted in this country. The RSLC is home to the Republican Secretaries of State Committee (RSSC), a caucus of Republican Secretaries of State, including new Secretaries in key 2012 swing states such as Ohio, Iowa, and New Mexico. These Secretaries believe in fair elections, including recounts that only seek to recount the actual votes cast in the election and not abuse the recount system to look for "new" votes to help the Democratic candidate cross the finish line first. The Republican Party will not soon forget the debacle that was the recount in Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman’s re-election campaign in 2008. We hope the taxpayers of Wisconsin don't soon forget the actions of Democratic Secretary of State La Follette last week when he publicly declared that he would stall for the legally permitted ten days before performing his ministerial role of publishing the new law reforming the government employee collective bargaining system. La Follette said he was delaying enactment of the law for the sole purpose of allowing more gold plated employee pension and benefits plans to be jammed through by the unions and their local elected officials who are in collusion with the unions. Secretary of State La Follette just potentially cost the taxpayers millions in future obligations that government can't afford to keep.

As the President of the RSLC, I intend to highlight the importance of state elections and the national impact the RSLC makes one state at a time. I am honored to have this opportunity to serve with the great team at the RSLC and under the leadership of our Chairman Ed Gillespie and the experienced Board of Directors. Keep an eye out on the states. Our work has only just begun.