SIDNEY — The Shelby County Republican Party named Doug and H.R. Pence as Republicans of the Year on Thursday after U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson called for unity within the party heading into November.

Davidson gave the keynote address at the party’s Lincoln Day Dinner, which drew about 150 people at Shelby Oaks Golf Club.

Davidson, a Sidney native who lives in Troy and represents Ohio’s 8th District, said congressional Republicans should unite behind former President Donald Trump, stop collaborating with Democrats and fight for the party’s values.

“Somebody somewhere started referring to Republicans as ‘the stupid party.’ Now we have to choose to not do things that earn the label ‘the stupid party,’” Davidson said.

“Don’t do stupid things. Don’t expand warrantless spying on American citizens. Don’t create a speech code, even when it’s for antisemitism stuff. Don’t get rolled by the Senate again, stop letting them take your lunch money. That’s basically the challenge between now and the election.”

Davidson said the upcoming elections are extremely important for the future of the country and said Republicans need to return to fighting for a smaller government.

“That needs to be our mission. More freedom, less government, sound money, fix the money, and secure borders,” Davidson said. “And if we can do those four things, I think we can save our country.

“We have to elect Donald Trump. If we elect Donald Trump, we’re going to win the House. The Senate is a little different animal. Sherrod Brown is not going to be easy to beat, but we’ve got to elect Bernie Moreno, and we’ve got to save the courts. If we don’t win these (three state) Supreme Court seats, we’re in trouble in Ohio.”

Sanna Hill-Aikin presented the Republicans of the Year award to H.R. and Doug Pence and said both are patriots. Both have long been involved with the Shelby County Republican Central Committee.

“We thank you for answering the call to duty throughout your lives and for being such a great example to all of us,” Hill-Aikin said.

Denny York was honored as the Republican Central Committee Member of the Year. He was presented the award by his daughter Amy Berning, who he talked into joining the Central Committee over 15 years ago. Berning is currently Shelby County Auditor, a position York formerly held.

Davidson fielded questions from attendees on several topics, including the Biden administration suspending delivery of certain types of bombs to Israel, the antisemitism bill that passed the House last week and efforts to ban land purchases by Chinese entities.

The emcee was Jack Windsor, a media personality who became famous during the COVID-19 pandemic for asking striking questions in Gov. Mike DeWine’s news conferences. Windsor now runs The Ohio Press Network and has a daily radio show on a Columbus-area station.

Windsor talked in detail about state politics and criticized Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, who he said is compromised.

“We have a trifecta. We have a supermajority, but we don’t have a bathroom bill passed, we don’t have our campuses as a place that’s safe for people who aren’t Lefties,” Windsor said.

“… So the state of Ohio is confused. But in confusion, there is a great opportunity. And that opportunity is to take the fear, take the confusion and do what the Left does with it, to harness it, and to make changes. The time is now.”

He called for unity behind former President Trump in November’s election.

“It is arrogant of people to be concerned about the personality of their general,” Windsor said. “You lose the war and you lose the republic, and you’re worried about the personality of your general. Align. Act. Stand firm. Pray. Because you have six months.”

Shelby County Republican Party chairman Dan Cecil echoed Stephens’ call to action in the evening’s closing remarks.

“Not only do we need you to get out there and vote, we need you to help us get everybody in Shelby County out there so that we conservatives can offset the liberals in the bigger parts of the state,” Cecil said. “I like the way Jack phrased it: we’ve got six months to save our country. It’s that important.”

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