The California College Republicans (CCR) is a California state organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. Founded on August 29, 1963, the organization is the official chartered youth wing and a recruiting tool for the California Republican Party. It has produced many prominent republican and conservative activists, with notable alumni such as Kevin McCarthy, Ben Shapiro, and Kevin Kiley.
CCR is a political action committee (PAC) that is not affiliated with and operates independently from the College Republican National Committee (CRNC).
History
Founding and early history
CCR began with 1,800 members on August 29, 1963 — founded by Randolph Siefkin, Harold Phillips, William Nielsen, William Dillon, and Pete Wilson (who went on to serve as a US Senator from 1983 to 1991 and Governor of California from 1991 to 1999).
The 1963 mission statement of CCR read: The specific and primary purposes for which this corporation is formed are to support the Republican party, to provide pleasure and recreation for the members, to encourage constructive thinking among young people and the development of their interest in good government, and to unite young people in the spirit of good fellowship to achieve these objectives.CCR was formed as a break-off group of the California Young Republican College Federation, also known as the California College Federation of Young Republicans, following election disputes in 1962 and 1963. In 1962, the moderates and conservatives violently clashed, with Walter Driver of the conservatives stating six sergeant-at-arms "banged my head into a chair and my body into a wall."
Harold Phillips of the moderates ultimately prevailed in the election as chair.
In 1963, competing conventions of a conservative wing and a moderate wing each elected new chairmen. Trent Devenney and Randy Siefkin each claimed legitimacy, with the California Young Republicans organization — at the time the parent organization of the college federation — set to recognize Devenney. At the same time, nationally, College Republican groups began to break off from the Young Republican groups, where one would service students and the other would service young adults. Siefkin helped lead this split in California, taking his moderate wing of students with him to form CCR. CCR would go on to charter with the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) (which it later separated from in 2019) after it broke off from the Young Republican National Federation. The California Young Republican College Federation continued to exist as part of the California Young Republicans and the Young Republican National Federation until 1969, when they merged with CCR in a unity election. The unification was supported and partially brokered by then-Governor Ronald Reagan.
Reagan enjoyed and worked closely with the youth — among them CCR members — during his campaigns and tenure. In 1988, he described CCR as "A group I take a kind of personal interest in..."
CCR also earned the admiration and attention of another President, Gerald Ford. In 1967, then-House Minority Leader Ford attended the annual CCR convention in Santa Barbara as the keynote speaker. He concluded with the following: We must build the Republican Party ... We can do that if college Republicans here and throughout the Nation will rise to the responsibility that is theirs--the challenge to go out into the wilderness of young Democrats and come back with some scalps. The future of the Republican Party, ladies and gentlemen, is in your hands.CCR conventions have featured a number of notable speakers over the years, including Gov. Pete Wilson, Gov. George Deukmejian, Lt. Gov. Edwin Reinecke, Lt. Gov. Mike Curb, Rep. Barry Goldwater Jr., Milo Yiannopoulos, Amb. Richard Grenell, Rep. Paul Gosar, and many others.
1963 was not the only time CCR faced competing conventions and claims of legitimacy. In 1987, Fred Whitaker (who went on to serve as Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County) and Jim Michalski ran for chairman. Whitaker, unable to mount enough delegates to win the election, led a walkout at the 1987 election, hoping to break quorum. However, not enough delegates left with Whitaker, and the election proceeded with a vote for Michalski. Whitaker, meanwhile, convened his own convention with the delegates that followed him, where they elected him as chairman. This triggered a crisis over the rightful Chairman of CCR.