How Steve Bannon convinced Trump supporters to take over the GOP 'precinct by precinct'


An army of conspiracy-minded Trump supporters are moving to influence and run the Republican Party at a local level, galvanized — at least initially — by none other than former Trump adviser and far-right nationalist Stephen Bannon, ProPublica reports.
In February 2021, Bannon told his podcast listeners of the "precinct strategy," in which Trump voters could take control of the GOP by flooding "into the lowest rung of the party structure: the precincts," ProPublica writes. Precinct officers are typically in charge of routine, administrative tasks, but collectively, "can influence how elections are run." In some states, they even have a say in the selection of poll workers and election board members.
"We're going to take this back village by village ... precinct by precinct," said Bannon to his listeners.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Since then, according to ProPublica analysis, GOP leaders in 41 out of 65 key counties have reported "an unusual increase" in precinct officer sign-ups, amounting to at least 8,500 new, low-level Republican officials. There was no equivalent surge found when analyzing Democratic positions.
"I've never seen anything like this, people are coming out of the woodwork," said J.C. Martin, the GOP chairman in Polk County, Florida. Martin said he has added 50 new committee members since January, per ProPublica. Such a wave is "way beyond" that seen with the Tea Party years ago, he added.
It is "impossible to know the motivations of each new recruit," notes ProPublica, but party officials do attribute the sign-ups to Bannon's podcast. Notably, the War Room host did not invent the precinct strategy, but instead "plucked [it] out of obscurity" via an Arizona Tea Party activist, Daniel Schultz. Schultz later appeared on Bannon's podcast, telling listeners, "We'll lose [the republic] if we conservatives don't take over the Republican Party." Read more at ProPublica.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
June 28 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include stupid wars, a critical media, and mask standards
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Trump's strikes on Iran: a 'spectacular success'?
In Depth Military humiliations 'expose the brittleness' of Tehran's ageing regime, but risk reinforcing its commitment to its nuclear program
-
Will NATO countries meet their new spending goal?
today's big question The cost of keeping Trump happy
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Bibi's back: what will Netanyahu do next?
Today's Big Question Riding high after a series of military victories, Israel's PM could push for peace in Gaza – or secure his own position with snap election