Delegates from Ashland, Richland counties reflect on Republican National Convention experience

MILWAUKEE — Ashland Mayor Matt Miller has followed politics for several years, first attending a Republican National Convention in 2004, when former President George W. Bush clinched the party’s nomination and went on to win the presidency. 

Miller said this year’s convention, held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last week differed from previous conventions. Miller attended as an alternate delegate. 

State Rep. Melanie Miller, who represents Ashland County and part of Medina at the state legislature, also served as an alternate delegate. 

Zoi Romanchuk of the Ohio Republican Central Committee attended as a delegate with her husband, State Sen. Mark Romanchuk, as an honorary delegate. Central Committee member Bill Heck of Medina was also an alternate delegate.

Delegates and alternates are selected from each U.S. congressional district. Zoi Romanchuk said she filled out an application to be a delegate for Donald Trump in the spring.

“The delegates are chosen by the campaigns, and we all fill out a simple one-page application,” she said. “I met some new friends in the Ohio delegation and I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again.”

According to a 2024 presidential guide from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, those seeking to be RNC delegates must be affiliated with the Republican party and file several forms with the largest board of elections in their congressional district. Those forms include a declaration of candidacy and petition and a statement in writing saying the delegate’s first and second choices for a presidential candidate. 

The process is similar for those who hope to be delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Those seeking to be Democratic delegates must be involved with the Democratic party, and have to fill out and turn in several forms, too. The Democratic National Convention is slotted for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, Illinois.

Miller said Ohio delegates to the RNC also included the governor, statewide officials and several members of the state’s congressional districts.

The 2024 convention saw former President Donald Trump earn the Republican nomination for the nation’s top office for a third time. He received all 79 of Ohio’s delegates during a roll call vote at the convention.

Trump also announced his vice president selection at the convention, picking Ohio’s own Republican U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance.

The week was capped off by speeches from Republican politicians, citizens and performances.

Highlights from the locals

For Miller, what stood out most were the everyday Americans who spoke to the crowd. 

“This convention featured so many impactful, raw and real speeches from ordinary Americans,” Miller said.

The delegation had the opportunity to hear from people who spoke about their family members’ battles with addiction and the pullout from Afghanistan.

Miller said the group of speakers was “diverse,” and the common thread was their belief in Trump as a person who could help with the issues they faced.

Miller added he appreciated the chance to hear from the Teamsters union president, Sean O’Brien. O’Brien’s comments advocated for a bipartisan approach to protecting workers. 

The Ashland mayor said not all O’Brien’s comments resonated with the Republican audience, but he valued the chance to hear a different perspective. 

“For the first time in years, I truly felt as though the Republican party was expanding our base and starting to address issues that impacted people that may not have traditionally considered themselves Republicans,” Miller said.

 “That was very reassuring. In fact, I left there thinking, ‘wow, maybe there is hope for the Republican party.’” 

Of course, Miller said, he also enjoyed watching professional wrestler Hulk Hogan’s speech live. 

“He really got the crowd rolling,” Romanchuk agreed. “It was fun seeing these personalities in person. There were some really emotional speeches, but we also had a lot of fun.”

Miller also was in the audience for Kid Rock’s performance, and said he enjoyed watching Lee Greenwood perform “God Bless the U.S.A.”

I wouldn’t say it was necessarily a bucket list item of mine, but my wife and I had a great time learning how the Republican Party functions on a national level.

Bill Heck, State Central Committee District 22 representative

An Ohio connection

Miller also described Sen. Vance’s selection as Trump’s running mate through the eyes of the Ohio delegation. Last Tuesday, when Vance was selected, he said the Ohio delegation was buzzing. 

They’d heard rumors both ways — that Vance would be the pick, that he wouldn’t get the nod. It was only when they started hearing about a security detail arriving at Vance’s house in Cincinnati that the delegation realized he’d earn the nomination, Miller said.

Afterwards, both Miller and Romanchuk recalled it was a good time to be from the Ohio delegation. 

“There was a lot of media buzzing around before and after the J.D. Vance announcement,” Romanchuk said. 

People stopped them wherever they went to talk, Miller added.

“The Ohio delegation was excited, but so were many people from other states,” said Bill Heck. “Networking with some other people, they congratulated you for being from Ohio. Because they were excited about the team of J.D. Vance and President Trump.”

Miller said the Ohio delegation also got to hear from Vance personally before taking a tour of the Harley-Davidson museum. He gave a speech, Miller said, and then paused for photos with several Ohio delegates, including Miller.

Behind the scenes

Plenty of national media outlets cover the Republican National Convention, but rarely all of the logistics behind-the-scenes.

Romanchuk said the first day of the convention required all delegates to approve the party’s platform and rules that govern the party. 

“The most important thing is to be present and to vote on the platform,” she said. “It can be time consuming.

“The part you see on TV where they announce ‘the great state of Ohio awards its 79 delegates to Donald J. Trump,’ it takes a long time to get through all those states.

“We were there from noon to midnight that day.” 

Miller and Romanchuk also both spoke to the organization of the event. They said they stayed at a hotel an hour outside of Milwaukee, which meant part of their mornings each day were dedicated to travel. 

Romachuk said each day of the Republican National Convention had a theme: Make America Strong Again, Safe Again, Wealthy Again and Great Again.

“Every day, the speakers spoke to that theme,” she said. “And of course, it ended with Donald Trump coming out and accepting the nomination and giving his speech.”

Romanchuk said Trump’s family members and the convention’s speakers had their own box in Fiserv Forum.

“Security was very tight, nobody could get close to that box,” she said. “If they ventured down to the floor, you could say hi. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson came down to sit with the Louisiana delegation for a little bit, but he still had security detail with him.”

Delegates were seated on the basketball court floor, with alternates in the lower bowl and honorary delegates in the upper bowl.

“It was packed every day — there were about 20,000 people,” Romachuk said.

“It was very exciting. Politics can get a bad rap, but we met nice people from all different states. Everyone was there to do our job and have a good time.”