Ed Lopez

Eduardo Jesus Lopez-Reyes (Ed Lopez-Reyes, Eduardo Lopez, Ed Lopez), of Greenwich, Connecticut, is an American Republican Party activist and former National Vice Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus.

Ed Lopez
National Vice Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus
In office
September 13, 2011 – October 11, 2015
Personal details
Born
Eduardo Jesus Lopez-Reyes

(1974-06-26) June 26, 1974
San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States[1]
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Marie Anne Lopez
Alma materUniversity of Rhode Island
Durham University
American University in Cairo
WebsiteEd Lopez

He is a former resident of and was politically active in the states of Rhode Island and New Hampshire.[2] He has been ranked one of "Newsmax's 50 Most Influential Latino Republicans".[3][4]

Early life and education

Lopez is of Guatemalan descent.[1] Before completing his studies at the University of Rhode Island he served as a Mormon missionary in the Dominican Republic for two years.[1]

He was the founder and state chairman of the Republican Hispanic Assembly of Rhode Island by late 1997.[5] Lopez was a candidate for Rhode Island Secretary of State against incumbent James Langevin in the 1998 election cycle.[6] Lopez was a Staff Assistant to United States Senators Hank Brown in Washington, D.C. and for John H. Chafee in his Providence, Rhode Island district office.[7] In 2000, he received support from Republicans including Frederick Lippitt and Republican National Committeewoman for Rhode Island Eileen Slocum for a potential State Senate race in Rhode Island's 3rd District against State Senator Rhoda Perry.[8] That same year, Lopez supported George W. Bush in the Republican presidential primary.[9]

Lopez graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.[2] He pursued graduate studies at Durham University, in the United Kingdom, graduating with a master's degree in International Relations Middle East and Arabic language studies.[10] Concurrent to military service in the United States Army he began PhD work, returning to Durham University and augmenting his Arabic language studies at American University in Cairo's Arabic Language Institute, in Cairo, Egypt.[2][11] Lopez was a member of Ustinov College.[2]

While in the United Kingdom, Lopez served in the United States Army Reserve Military Intelligence Corps.[7]

Career

Republican Party

Lopez served as National Vice Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus from 2011 through 2015.[3][12] Lopez served on Rockingham County Leadership Team for former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. for President in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries.[13]

Freedom to Marry

In March 2013, Lopez joined Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry along with S.E. Cupp, Abby Huntsman, Elizabeth Huntsman, Mary Anne Huntsman, Meghan McCain and other conservative and Republican activists.[14]

In June 2013, Lopez joined the group on a nationwide campaign to change the Republican Party's platform points on the issue; the campaign included visits to New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, and Nevada. Lopez was identified as a leader in the movement.[15] Following an announcement of Republican support among state senators in Rhode Island, Lopez stated: "Rhode Island Republicans are leading the way to a more inclusive GOP — one that can continue to grow and stay relevant as America changes. Their actions today show that not only do they know the freedom to marry is completely in line with conservative values like personal liberty and the importance of family, they are working to make it a reality."[16]

He was among a group of "Republican lawmakers, operatives and consultants" to file an amicus brief "at the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage."[17] The brief was organized by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and included "Senators Susan Collins and Mark Kirk, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, retired General Stanley McChrystal and billionaire GOP mega-donor David Koch."[17] On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges meant that the Freedom to Marry's movement could be brought to a close.[18]

2016 presidential election

Lopez said he supported former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson in the 2016 election during an interview with The Huffington Post in June 2016.[19] During an interview on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Lopez was asked whether he planned to remain a Republican and whether he felt Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld were sufficiently libertarian to which his response was: "I still believe in the Republican Party. I would like to see the Republican Party come out of this stronger. I'm not here to define how libertarian the Johnson-Weld ticket is or isn't; I understand Libertarians debate this robustly."[20]

In the final weeks before the general election, Our America Initiative sponsored a national tour, "visiting college campuses and other venues across America to raise awareness about third party inclusion in national presidential debates" and to "spread the message of liberty and libertarian thought."[21] The 40 state tour included speakers such as Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld, Free the People's Matt Kibbe, political and communications consultant Liz Mair, Reason Foundation’s David Nott, Foundation for Economic Education’s Jeffrey Tucker, Libertarian Party's Carla Howell and Lopez,[22] who said, "The main reason that I chose to come on this tour and talk to millennials and talk to students all over the country is because in addition to being libertarian, I’m a realist, and so, I sympathized a lot with one of Gary Johnson’s principles of good government. And that’s a principle of realism."[23]

Lopez is an advocate of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.[24]

Newspaper op-ed contributor

His writing has appeared in Greenwich Time, The Advocate, The Daily Caller, The Portsmouth Herald, The Providence Journal, The Telegraph (Nashua), and Townhall.[25][26][27][28][29]

Personal life

Lopez resides in Greenwich, Connecticut, where serves in elective municipal office.[30][31]

He and his wife, Marie Anne, have been active in political and non-profit efforts together.[32] He presided over a local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International in New Hampshire between 2009 and 2011.[7][27] He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[33] Lopez plays guitar and is a feature writer and contributing editor in music subjects.[2]

gollark: Especially on the everything-is-glued phones.
gollark: Not very easily.
gollark: With a removable battery, not only can a dead battery be replaced, but you can manually swap in a charged battery if your existing one runs out.
gollark: Oh yes, micromanage battery use at great effort for a 30% benefit in longevity.
gollark: I definitely want to micromanage battery use. That is not annoying at all.

References
  1. Shawn Zeller (June 25, 1998). "Language of Lopez". Providence Phoenix. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  2. "Ed Lopez-Reyes". Dunelm USA North American Development Board. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  3. John Blosser (February 24, 2016). "Newsmax's 50 Most Influential Latino Republicans". NewsMax. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  4. Jordan Morales (March 28, 2017). "Newsmax's 50 Most Influential Latino Republicans". NewsMax. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  5. Mark Bazer (December 18, 1997). "Born to be Mild: Rhode Island's College Republicans Defy the Stereotype of Hard-Core Party Animals". Providence Phoenix. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  6. "Official Election Results, Statewide Offices". State of Rhode Island Board of Elections. November 3, 1998. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  7. "Business People: Donna Nicholaides, Walter Schnecker, Clara Doss, Ed Lopez, Marie Lopez, Chris Houpis, Peter Dobratz, Karen Files, Kimberly Kohm, Krista Lalibert". Nashua Telegraph. December 9, 2009. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  8. "Young Eddie Makes his Move". Providence Phoenix. November 4, 1999. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  9. Jonathan Saltzman (September 9, 1999). "In R.I., Bush opts for contributions over kids". The Providence Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  10. Eduardo J. Lopez-Reyes (2011). "Moving from Durham into Politics" (PDF). University of Durham. p. 7. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  11. "AUC Today Class Notes - Special Programs" (PDF). AUC. Fall 2008. p. 39. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  12. "Frequently Asked Questions". Republican Liberty Caucus. Retrieved December 4, 2016. National Board serving through 2015: Vice Chair Ed Lopez of Connecticut
  13. Robert Cook (November 18, 2011). "Five Portsmouth Residents to Serve on Jon Huntsman's Leadership Team". Portsmouth Path. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  14. "Huntsman Hotties Join Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry Group". The Contributor. March 13, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  15. John DiStaso (June 4, 2014). "'Young Conservatives for Freedom to Marry' in NH to launch campaign to reform RNC platform". NH Journal. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  16. "RI Republican Senate Caucus Supports Marriage Equality". The Contributor. April 23, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  17. Zeke J. Miller (March 5, 2015). "More Than 300 Republicans Call on Supreme Court to Recognize Gay Marriage Nationally". Time. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  18. Karen Heller (July 30, 2015). "Freedom to Marry is going out of business. And everybody's thrilled". Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  19. Michelle Fields (May 24, 2016). "Koch-Funded Efforts To Win Hispanics Crashing, Burning". Huffington Post. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  20. "Republican Support for Libertarian Candidates (video)". C-SPAN. August 8, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016. Ed Lopez, co-chair of Republicans for Johnson/Weld, talked about why he and other Republicans were supporting the Libertarian ticket in 2016, as well as their work to bolster third-party candidates.
  21. "Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson to Advocate for Third Party Inclusion". Good4Utah.com. October 31, 2016.
  22. Jack Jacobs (October 18, 2016). "Liberty Tour comes to Williamsburg to talk election, personal freedom". The Virginia Gazette. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  23. Allie Dignan (October 25, 2016). "Liberty Tour Visits Campus To Advocate For Johnson: Governor Gary Johnson Funds National Tour, Uses Comedy To Engage Students". Flat Hat News. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  24. "A Popular Electoral College (video)". Thirteen. September 2, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2019. Republican political strategist Ed Lopez discusses the federalist argument for the National Popular Vote.
  25. "Ed Lopez". Republican Liberty Caucus National Convention.
  26. Lopez-Reyes, Eduardo J. "Libertarian case for Jon Huntsman". seacoastonline.com. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  27. Vision 2020 Should Focus on Nashua as Destination City
  28. Lopez, Eduardo (23 July 1999). "Swinging the black vote to the GOP". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 8 January 2016. (Subscription required.)
  29. Lopez-Reyes, Eduardo J. "The Small State Shuffle". townhall.com. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  30. Huge Shake-up on RTM
  31. Eduardo J Lopez-Reyes: a Goal RTM members can agree on
  32. City Couple Supports Huntsman
  33. "New Hampshire Mormons Hope GOP Candidates Raise Awareness". Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2011-11-28.

Further reading
  • Avila, Tomas A. (2007). Rhode Island Latino Political Empowerment. Milenio Publishing. ISBN 1928810063.
  • Popoff, Martin (2018). Pink Floyd: Album by Album. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0760360613.
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