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Profile of a REP leader: Dave Herrington

One evening in the summer of 1999, Dave Herrington was at home in Dyer, Indiana, surfing the net in frustration after attending a local Sierra Club meeting. Feeling like the only Republican in a sea of Democrats, he hadn’t been comfortable at the meeting. Back home that night, he sat down to his computer and typed “Republican environmentalist” into his search engine. Up popped Republicans for Environmental Protection. Dave spent some time reading through our site, during which time he found Martha Marks’ email and sent her a note. The next day they talked on the phone. The rest, as they say, is history.

Martha quickly identified her new contact as a great person to become REP’s Indiana coordinator, a position that hadn’t existed before. As Dave tells the story—a week or so later came official REP business cards and a stack of brochures and Green Elephants, so he was well set up to begin promoting the organization.

During his time as Indiana coordinator, Dave attended our October 2000 annual meeting in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, and our July 2001 “Republicans for a Responsible Energy Plan” conference in Washington, DC.

Early in 2002, Dave’s employer, Kraft, transferred him to its international headquarters in Illinois. Dave ended up living in Lake County, where REP America was founded and has a very strong base. By the spring of 2003, Dave was well enough established in the state to become president of our brand-new chapter there.

Under Dave’s leadership, Illinois quickly became one of our most active chapters. He and his fellow Executive Committee members—George Gore, Bill Holleman, Claudia Emken and Stan Perrin—work together very well as a team. In a relatively short time, they recruited to REP seven members of the Illinois legislature, advocated effectively for two major issues in their state (wetlands protection and funding for open space), and established their chapter as a player in both the Republican establishment and the environmental community.

As chapter president, Dave attended our 2003 annual meeting in San Diego. He spoke for the chapter at our November 2003 reception honoring Congressman Mark Kirk, and also attended our Clean Air Advocacy workshop in April 2004. Under his leadership, the Illinois Chapter recently won the national board’s permission to form a PAC and made their first state-level endorsements... becoming our first chapter to cross that important threshold.

When we asked Dave for a personal comment, he wrote: I am really honored to work with such a great group of committed people on the Illinois ExCom. I am humbled by their knowledge and experience. I feel like the best thing I can do for REP is just harness their power and keep us all moving forward. We’re a really great team, and I know the Chapter can achieve great things!

Dave and his wife Tracey (another enthusiastic REP member) have three young children. They live in Lake Villa, a far-north suburb of Chicago.