Two opposing factions are jockeying to be the true MAGA warriors at this weekend’s Young Republican National Convention.
Young Republicans are split over the future of the party, with two warring factions seeking to position themselves as the true MAGA warriors ahead of a weekend vote for control of the party’s youth arm.
On Saturday, young party members will converge in Nashville, where they’ll decide between two slates to lead the Young Republican National Federation: Grow YR, led by current YRNF Chair Hayden Padgett, and the insurgent Restore YR campaign, led by New York State Young Republicans Chair Peter Giunta.
The brawl between the two slates is both personal — including interpersonal clashes and squabbles over hotel loyalty points and committee assignments — and ideological, with both sides looking to prove their loyalty to President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. But the fight is also a microcosm of a schism ready to burst in the party at large, which is already delicately trying to chart a course for its post-Trump future.
“The fact that [Young Republicans are] divided over something like this — what type of work we should be doing — says a lot about what the potential implications are for 2026 and 2028,” said Giunta, who emphasized the importance of party unity. “In 2028, it’s really about fighting for what the future identity of the party looks like in a post-Trump era.”