About Our Committee
The Town of Barnstable’s source for Republican activism, in all seven villages.
Who We Are
We are the Barnstable Republican Town Committee, the elected committee of the Republican Party in the Town of Barnstable, organized under Chapter 52 of the Massachusetts General Laws. Our members live in Barnstable, Centerville, Cotuit, Hyannis, Marstons Mills, Osterville and West Barnstable.
The committee has long described itself this way: “Our membership represents all walks of life and includes local attorneys, business owners, laborers, teachers, politicians, retirees, students and work-at-home parents.”
“Our democracy works best when more than one party is represented. We endeavor to have a viable two-party government so that we ALL can benefit from our great Democracy.”
— from the committee’s own statement of who it is
What We Stand For
In the committee’s words, we welcome “all those interested in lower taxes, limited government and local control by the citizens”. In practice that means:
Lower Taxes
Families and small businesses in Barnstable should keep more of what they earn. Every new tax, fee and override should have to make its case to the people who pay it.
Limited Government
Government should do what must be done and cannot be done as well by individuals, and no more. It should spend within its means and show its work.
Local Control
The decisions that shape a village should be made in the open, by people the village elected, not written into a state budget or settled before the public is asked.
A Real Two-Party Town
More than two of every three Barnstable voters belong to no party. They deserve a real choice on every ballot, and that takes candidates, volunteers and neighbors willing to stand up.
The Republican creed the committee has long published begins: “I believe that the proper function of government is to do for the people those things that have to be done but cannot be done, or cannot be done as well by individuals, and that the most effective government is government closest to the people.” See what that means here and now on our Local Issues page.
What We Do
- Elect Republicans. The committee backs Republican candidates for local, county and state office with volunteers and contributions, as its public campaign-finance reports show year after year.
- Bring people together. Pancake breakfasts, summer barbecues and fundraisers in Hyannis: most recently a pancake breakfast in June 2026 and a fundraiser in Hyannis in October 2025.
- Show up. Members have ridden together to the state Republican convention, and they follow what the Town Council and the county are doing so their neighbors can too.
- Meet every month. Dates and places are on our Meetings page.
Committee Leadership
These are the officers on file with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, in the committee’s statement dated September 8, 2026.
Source: OCPF, committee 76026. Backed by a full committee of Barnstable residents. Want to join them? Get involved.
On the Ballot This November
Two members of this committee are on Barnstable ballots on November 3: Adam Hogue of West Hyannisport, for Barnstable County Commissioner, and Rep. Steven Xiarhos of West Barnstable, for State Representative in the 5th Barnstable District (Precincts 10, 11 and 12). Meet Adam Hogue or see the whole ballot.
A Town That Has Done This Before
Barnstable was settled in 1639. Among its first settlers were the Rev. Joseph Hull and, that autumn, the Rev. John Lothrop and his congregation from Scituate. It has been the county seat since 1685.
On September 27, 1774, some 1,500 Cape Codders gathered at the colonial courthouse in Barnstable village and kept the King’s court from sitting. That was nearly two years before the Declaration of Independence, and the courthouse still stands on Route 6A. James Otis Jr. was born in West Barnstable; statues of him and of his sister, Mercy Otis Warren, stand at the county courthouse today.
The town’s own charter, adopted in 1989, opens with a line a Republican could have written. Its people adopt it “praying for the minimum of interference from the yet larger state”. We think that still describes most of our neighbors.
Our Meetings
Committee meetings, with the date, time and place, are listed on our Meetings page. All Republicans and Independents are welcome.
Get Involved
Whether you can give an hour a month or an evening a week, there is a place for you here. Find out how to join, or reach the committee directly.