Republican County Chairmen’s Association president: If we don’t have faith, ‘the rest of it doesn’t matter’

Rhonda Belford, president of the Republican County Chairmen’s Association, emphasized that political efforts are rooted in faith and prayer, noting her role on the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) Temporary Faith Engagement Committee. This statement was made on the Prairie State Wire Podcast.

“Our founding fathers were people of faith at the RNC level,” said Belford. “Chairman Watley, I was appointed to the Temporary Faith Engagement Committee. I was very proud to open that committee up with prayer at our last summer meeting. If we don’t have faith and if we don’t have prayer, all the rest of it doesn’t matter.”

The RNC has expanded its faith engagement efforts through the “Faith Engagement Initiative,” aiming to build partnerships with churches and local leaders to boost voter turnout and conservative advocacy. According to Politico, this program coordinates with state and county GOP groups to host prayer events, voter registration drives, and training on religious liberty issues. These efforts reflect the RNC’s strategy to mobilize faith-based voters ahead of 2026.

A survey conducted by Pew Research Center in 2024 found that 45% of U.S. adults say religion influences their political opinions, while 38% report that prayer plays a role in civic decision-making. Among Republican voters, nearly two-thirds said faith is an important guide in political life, underscoring religion’s deep electoral impact.

Research from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that individuals attending weekly religious services are 10–15% more likely to vote and participate in community activities than those who do not. The study linked consistent prayer and faith practice to higher civic trust and turnout across counties.

Belford serves as President of the Republican County Chairmen’s Association of Illinois and previously led as Southern Regional Vice President and Hardin County GOP Chair. Elected as RCCA’s first female president in 2022, she has decades of grassroots experience in organizing local campaigns and advancing Republican initiatives.

The Republican County Chairmen’s Association (RCCA) unites Illinois’ 102 county GOP chairs to strengthen local party infrastructure through training, outreach, and coordination with the RNC. Founded to advance conservative governance, it promotes candidate recruitment and grassroots mobilization statewide.

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FULL, UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT

Bryan Hyde : [00:00:00] Welcome to the Prairie State Wire Podcast. I’m Brian Hyde. Today I’m joined by Rhonda Belford. And Rhonda, you actually, you wear a lot of hats. I’m gonna ask you to, if you would, walk us through some of the various positions that you currently hold in Illinois. You are certainly no bystander. You are right there in the arena.

Talk to us a little bit about what you do. 

Rhonda Belford: Well, first of all, thank you Brian. It’s a pleasure to be with you this afternoon, and no, I’m no stranger to this. I was born and, and raised in, in southeastern Illinois and, and really cut my teeth, helping our communities and helping those who wanted to make our state our communities better.

I started as a, a young, a teenager handing out cards for those who wanted to run countywide statewide, and then of course nationwide. So I. Currently am the county chairwoman for Hardin County, the very southeastern tip of the state, one of the smallest counties in the 102 states. I [00:01:00] also serve as state central committee woman for the 12th Congressional District, which is Congressman Mike Boss District.

I also serve as president. President of the County Chairman’s Association, which is all 102 county chairman in the state. But one of my newest titles, I guess, would be your national committee Woman for Illinois. So I’m very, very proud to serve in that capacity as well. So on a nationwide level, so, so when I, I just got back from summer, summer meeting there in Atlanta, Georgia.

And so when they ask, you know, where are you from? I, I say Illinois, and I often have to qualify that with. Thing Southern Illinois. ’cause they don’t quite believe and they usually try to equate that with Chicago, but they never believe that when they hear me speak. ’cause I’m, I’m just a bit southern and I always say one toe in the river, I’m Kentucky, but many of my ancestors did migrate.

From Kentucky and where I live, I can just look out my window and [00:02:00] see the Ohio River and watch the cave and rock ferry, which many people from your neck of the woods had loved to come down and just take a ride from the cave and rock side, the Illinois side to the Kentucky side. So it’s. It’s how the West was, one was filmed here, and so I highly recommend you come down and, you know, take a, take a tour in the Shawnee National Forest, such as that.

So, but my, my most treasured title is Nana. 

Bryan Hyde : Oh, I can understand. I understand. Let’s talk a little bit about a controversy that I know this was making huge headlines just a couple of weeks ago. A lot has happened since then, but I would love it if you could, could you bring us up to speed? The, the Democrats from Texas who fled the state so that they wouldn’t have a quorum and they, they wouldn’t participate in what they were calling gerrymandering, you know, for the sake of the Republicans, they fled to Illinois.

Help me understand. Whatever became of that, I know that that many of them returned to Texas. Why did they come to Illinois? 

Rhonda Belford: [00:03:00] Well, you know, I think they found safe haven here. And of course, temporary governor at JB Pritzker rolled out the red carpet, asked him to come. And I think, you know, he might be at this point thinking maybe that was a mistake because it has truly put the spotlight on Illinois in multiple and sundry ways now.

But it was kind of like, what were you thinking? You know, because it was such a hypocritical move. Because we are, you know. Actually one of the very most, if not the most gerrymandered state in the nation as well. So we rolled out the red carpet here. They came so, and stayed and camped out as, as long as they possibly could.

But it’s my understanding as of I think around the 23rd, just what, just a few days ago, within this last week, it really didn’t prevent anything. They had to go back, they were able to pass. And you know the bill that is going to. And was, has been quickly [00:04:00] signed into law and it will enable them to have at least five more seats in Congress for the Republicans.

So that’s, that’s going to change that for them. There was no real stopping that it might have stalled. It didn’t really change anything. And for JB Pritzker to. You know, really pushed that along was not really, uh, it, it, it wasn’t a good look for him. It wasn’t a good look for them. And what was very interesting, we had their, their own Texas Republican State Party chair.

We hosted him, I don’t know if you’re aware of that, but he spoke to our Republican County Chairman’s Association or our state central committee for the morning breakfast for the state fair. So he came and gave us good insight and actually very good encouragement here in Illinois. So, and it was like a shot in the arm for us to give us hope and, and really what’s to come.

So we were glad to host him and then he, you know, he [00:05:00] gave us an update and his. It has kept us up to date on the ongoings there in Texas, so it really didn’t do what they thought it would do. It was really just kind of like a high drama, something you’d see, you know, in some kind of soap opera, and honestly, it’s just put a spotlight on Illinois and just fuels this fire.

That seems to be something going on between the president and JB Pritzker. So it’s a sad state of affairs and we all are caught in the middle of it. So 

Bryan Hyde : I, I’m looking at an op-ed you wrote earlier this month for the Chicago Tribune, and, and you bring up in there that it’s kind of rich for Governor Pritzker to be lecturing red states like Texas about fairness, while at the same time ignoring some real problems right there in his own backyard.

Let’s talk about some of those problems. 

Rhonda Belford: Well, you know, you probably have seen him walking along, you know, so Chicago’s beautiful. We know we, we’ve got lots of wonderful parts of our state. [00:06:00] Uh, it’s a very lovely state, it’s very diverse, but for him to walk alongside, act like we have no issues when people are pointing out all of the time, you know, 13 years of most concentrated highest murders of US cities, for him to say those types of things and, and the statistics are there.

The proof is in the pudding. So, you know, what kind of joke, what kind of sad joke does he have? Blinders on what’s going on here? And why would he do this to his own people? And then to stand boldly up and like, these are my people. What, what’s wrong with this person when he is trying to do this? And I, I mean, if he has higher aspirations, that’s one thing.

But how could anybody in their right mind look at this man? Realistically and say, well, we would like him in a few years to run the country. If he’s running his own state into the [00:07:00] ground and you’re seeing more and more. Of course, I’ve got good friends, Gianna Caldwell, who’s who’s on Fox telling his story about what happened to his brother.

We’ve got other folks in the Chicago land area who are telling their stories. And, and it’s, it’s a crying and shame. And then he came on down south just yesterday and then he’s touting the fact that he thinks that President Trump is just doing this to try to stall for elections in 26. It’s just not the truth.

When you can see that what. The president is offering to try to put us back on a safe and sound track is working in other states, so why wouldn’t we want to take advantage of the offerings of some assistance where really help is really needed and we know that we need the help. So why wouldn’t you wanna take advantage of that unless you’re just.

You know, too, too pious to do that and too [00:08:00] proud to do that. So I would take advantage of those things. But we’ve got beautiful, we’re a beautiful state here in the Midwest, and we, we truly do need help and, and multiple and sun ways. So, and, and we know who the author of confusion is, those types of things.

It’s just a, it’s at this point a battle of wits. 

Bryan Hyde : Rhonda, how does. Ensuring that the, the division, if not only remains, but also continues to grow. How does that division serve the purposes of people like Governor Pritzker? 

Rhonda Belford: How does it serve him? Yeah, the division, it doesn’t serve him in any manner. Just as a human being.

I mean, who would want to follow that trajectory? So I mean, just normal people, it doesn’t matter which side of the spectrum you’re on, that’s not a Republican or a Democrat problem, that’s a people problem. That’s a problem of the heart. So, I mean, it’s not serving him in any manner. So, I mean, anybody [00:09:00] that wants to come people are, are fleeing the state.

When the bottom half of our state, the southernmost part of the state is saying. We’d rather join Indiana, you know, what is that saying to you? You know, that they’d rather leave. And we’ve got people that are fleeing every day. Of course, I’d rather stay and fight. I, I was born and raised here. Our family migrated over from Kentucky.

My grandfather bought our family farm and he wanted to do that, to pass it down from generation to generation. But we’re being taxed and, you know, it’s, it’s becoming harder and harder. To continue to live in this state. The energy, the taxes, those types of things. And of course, you know, I, I’m re reminded of when Congressman Mike Boss stood in, you know, the, the floor of the house, let my people go, and he threw the papers, you know, but people want to stay here.

They want their children to be able to stay here, but he’s, you know, [00:10:00] not serving in that capacity. I don’t know what he is thinking, but it’s not serving him either. 

Bryan Hyde : Well, and, and pertaining to the issue of, of redistricting, it seems like this, this would be terribly demoralizing when, when it’s being done so openly, we’re gonna draw the map to favor one party as opposed to actually, you know, drawing fair boundaries.

That, that to me seems like it would have some very long reaching impact on, on voters and, and their willingness to even participate. 

Rhonda Belford: Right. Well that is a promise that he made and then he broke that promise to have fair maps. So that’s, you know, that’s something that nobody can understand as well. So, but it is just seeming to be that he just wants to dictate and just wants to, you know, we’re in the super minority, the Republicans are right now, but it doesn’t seem to matter.

Fair is fair, you know, and if you wanna redistrict and you wanna have fair maps, that’s something that [00:11:00] just be, should be put out there for anybody. But whoever seems to be in power, of course, is going to want to and should be. It should be in the power of the people and it should be fair and balanced. So if that’s the way it is, it should be drawn to reflect that appropriately.

Bryan Hyde : So let’s talk about what needs to happen in terms of, of fixing this, this growing distrust in, in the political system, in, in the, the country’s founding principles. What needs to happen in Illinois to, to cause a course correction? 

Rhonda Belford: Well, first of all, of course, the power should be in the people. And of course we should have a process to allow for proper voting to restore that power properly.

But at the RNC level, that’s what they’re working on is, you know, to get out the vote and then to protect the vote because there seems to be this distrust in the election process to begin with. So, you know, until you know. Those [00:12:00] things are done properly. There’s just seems to be a distrust in that process to begin with.

So those are some of the things that are trying to be instilled and lay that out. To begin with. So we have to get out the vote first, get people to understand the importance to be involved in the process and to get out and be engaged at whatever level, whether that’s the, you know, and of course everybody says, you know, all politics is local and it truly is.

Whether you’re Republican, whether you’re Democrat, you care about where you live, you grow where you’re planted, and you wanna get good people involved because we truly do care about where we live and get them involved in the process. So get out the vote, be involved. Be a poll watcher, be an election judge.

You know, if you see something, say something. So, you know, get out the vote. Be, you know, engaged at that level. But then after that you wanna protect the vote, make sure those votes count, and that [00:13:00] it’s done properly. So those are those types of things that really are the first line of defense. And then we can see where we’re at and move forward from there and get those things, set them back in motion as they should be, get things done fairly and, and then you’re gonna have a good foundation to build on.

Rhonda, as you go 

Bryan Hyde : ahead, as you work to get people engaged like you’re describing here, what are the most common objections that you hear for why people tend to outsource it? Well, somebody else should do it or maybe do, do they not feel qualified? 

Rhonda Belford: Sometimes I think it’s a matter of educating folks because they, maybe they think, well, you know, that’s not something I should do.

That’s not something I can do. Maybe, I don’t know. But anybody and everybody, it’s all of our duties, all of our obligations, you know, and I, I think our churches feel like they should not, that’s not something, you know, that they should be engaged in, things like that. [00:14:00] But our founding fathers. We’re people of faith at the RNC level Chairman Watley, I was appointed to the Temporary Faith Engagement Committee.

I was very proud to open that committee up with prayer at our last summer meeting. And what I said before I opened that with prayer, there’s, you know, lots of committees on lots of different levels and that’s something we’ve seen come up as of light, quite a discussion on, in my opinion. It’s very important.

If we don’t have faith and if we don’t have prayer, all the rest of it doesn’t matter. So we’ve got to be engaged. Our, our, our church people have to be engaged. We have to have people who have good moral character engaged at all these levels, and those are the kind of people who need to be engaged. And out voting to get the right kind of people in place that are gonna do the right kinds of things at the county level, at the state level.

And yes, at the national level, our, our nation was founded one nation under [00:15:00] God. So if we don’t have those people of principles and just like our forefathers, we’re done. 

Bryan Hyde : So for people who, for whom free and fair elections are a priority, what are some of the resources or what are some of the, the places they might turn to not only become better informed, but actually find those opportunities to step up and, and help shoulder part of the the load.

Rhonda Belford: Well, I think looking to your local, local state Board of elections, they, they lay out very well what the processes are as far as when and what is going on, as far as timelines and, and informations that are. Legally out there. And then your local organizations, there are lots of women’s organizations. Your Illinois Federation of Republican Women or whatever you, you know, there’s lots of organizations, your local county organizations for your local leaders there.

I happen to be one in my county. So you have those [00:16:00] organizations to go to. So the the State Republican party, all of those things, there’s links to that. You can reach out to those people, they can guide you. There’s lots of other grassroots organizations. Everybody should be working together to try to send the same messaging together and us work together.

Of course, I know there’s lots of folks, they tend to work in silos, but the Republican national Committee is really. Really good at Forefronting and sending that and working in concert with the state party and then with the local county organizations that we can all funnel that messaging together. So I know it’s hard and people sometimes wanna say, well, and leave it to one group to do it all, but really we are all the party.

It’s not this. Hierarchy up here that, oh, there it is. And they’ve gotta do it all. It’s everybody working together and everybody can do their part. Whether it’s calling somebody on the phone and say, Hey, yeah, I know so and so. [00:17:00] They’re a good guy. We should support them. Whether it’s with your time. Whether it’s telling a neighbor, whether it’s driving somebody to the polls or you know, whether you know you have an extra $5 to help do something, you know, with, it’s, it’s everybody together, everybody can do something in getting the message out on helping make Illinois a better place to live.

One 

Bryan Hyde : final question. Go ahead. One final question for you, Rhonda. You’re obviously carrying a lot of responsibility now. I assume when you started out though, you did not have all the answers that you currently have. What would you tell people who are are currently dragging their heels? Because I just don’t know enough.

Is there ever a right time to, to step forward and, and start the work? 

Rhonda Belford: Now is the right time. I, and I still don’t have all the answers, but I will. I, but what I tell people, if I don’t have the answers, I’ll, I’ll find the answers. I’ll point you to somebody who does. Nobody has all the answers. I’ll just say that.

Nobody does. And we learn [00:18:00] every day. When we stop learning, you know, then I think we’re, you know, probably got one foot in grave. But anyway, nobody has all the answers and most of the things that we do in life, uh, you know, as well as I do, we, it’s. We live and learn. That’s what it is. And so if anybody’s afraid to get involved, don’t be afraid.

You know, every email that I send out to all the county chairman, the state central committee, all of those folks, I sign off with Second Timothy, it says, for God hath not given to us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. And that’s how I live my life. That’s how I’ve always lived my life and anything I’ve ever done, we’re not to be afraid.

And if we live in that manner and just do our best with whatever it is, we’ll be led to do the right thing. And with all the things that have been coming up and, and things that have recently happened and people are scared, we’re not to be afraid. [00:19:00] And something that just as we were getting ready to do this show, we’re to rejoice and hope and be patient.

Tribulation because people are chaotic, they’re scared, they don’t know what to do. But be patient in tribulation and be constant in prayer because people wanna say, oh, thoughts and prayers, what’s that gonna do? No, it’s gonna do a lot of things for one thing, it will. It will calm the chaos, and there’s a lot of chaos out there right now, and people just need somebody for one thing to be an encourager.

And I’m an old cheerleader. When I was graduating from high school, I had, I had no thought to really what I was gonna be, and I said, you mean I can’t be a cheerleader the rest of my life? And the teacher was like, no, you gotta make a decision. Honestly, she was a little bit wrong ’cause I’ve been a cheerleader my whole life.

So, you know, and, and I wanna keep doing that for the state of Illinois. And now really I’ve took it to the next level. So I, I [00:20:00] appreciate your time and that’s what we’re here to do, is to uplift and to help each other. 

Bryan Hyde : Once again, we’ve been visiting with Rhonda Belfort. She’s an Illinois Republican National Committee woman, also president of the Republican County Chairman’s Association of Illinois and leads the 12th District State Central Committee.

Rhonda, thank you so much for being our guest on the Prairie State Wire Podcast. 

Rhonda Belford: Anytime. Thank you, Brian.