State Conventions

by   T. C. Pinckney                                                                                                                                        Vol. III, No. 1, January 1990

State convention results present an interesting mixture of good news and bad news for both conservatives and mod/libs. The following paragraphs describe the highlights and summarize the current balance in the state conventions.

To start with the bad news (bad from the conservative point of view), among the larger state conventions conservatives lost in Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Arkansas, and Virginia. Arkansas was a major disappointment because conservatives had earlier judged that they had a reasonable chance to succeed. Though a loss, the situation in South Carolina is intriguing. In 1987 conservatives lost by more than 1,000 votes; in 1988 by some 350 votes, and in 1989 by 96 votes. North Carolina reflects a similar trend. In 1988 mod/libs won by 68%, in 1989 by 51% (21 votes over the combined total of the two conservative candidates).

More encouraging to conservatives, they won in Oklahoma and Florida (as they had done previously). In Georgia they also re-elected Ike Reighard as president and elected the first and second vice presidents, though mod/libs won the third and fourth vice presidencies. Conservatives won for the second time in Tennessee and squeaked through with their first win in Louisiana by four votes, 723:719. The smaller state conventions are too numerous to detail here, but conservatives swept Colorado for the first time.

To sum up, in the large states conservatives lead in five, two states are in the middle, and mod/libs lead in seven. Among the smaller state conventions conservatives hold a three to one margin. In the early years of the conservative resurgence every ounce of energy had to be devoted to the SBC effort, so it has only been in the last very few years that attention could be placed on the state associations. Thus it is not surprising that the resurgence in the states is seven or eight years behind that in the SBC.

Though we may be impatient, conservatives must remain faithful to the effort to return the entire SBC to God's word and must remember we are working on His timetable, not man's. He has rewarded our efforts in the past. As long as we endure and submit our wills to His, He will continue to use us.