He’s Republican and he lives on the Upper West Side, but Shelton Walden – a 43-year-old African-American education consultant – swears he’s not Mr. X.

During the 2004 election campaign, a closet conservative from the area who called himself Mr. X titillated the city with pseudonymous op-ed pieces in The New York Sun espousing his against-the-grain political views, but never disclosing his identify for fear of reprisal from the neighborhood’s radical liberals.

And while the identity of Mr. X remains a mystery, Shelton Walden has taken a less demur path becoming president of the newly formed Fighting 69th Republican Club that meets in an art gallery on the median at the corner of Broadway and West 96th Street at 7 p.m. on the last Thursday of every month – except November.

Named for the Assembly District in which it sits, the 69th A.D., and for the illustrious 69th Infantry Regiment of New York Army National Guard that was recently honored in the St. Patrick’s Day parade for its service in Iraq, the club is recognized by the Republican County Committee and is the first such Republican club serving the Upper West Side – above 86th Street – in more than 30 years.

The club has held three meetings since being officially formed in December, has drawn an average of 30 attendees to each meeting and has hosted speakers such as the New York Post columnist Robert George, the Republicans for Environmental Protection New York representative Greg Morris, and on March 30 will feature Manhattan Institute Scholar and City Journal contributing editor Sol Stern.

Lolita Ferrin, the area’s Republican District Leader and club founder scoured the neighborhood for a public meeting place for more than a year-and-a-half and faced 25 or so rejections before landing the art gallery. “As soon as I told them I was Republican … No, no, no, no, no!” she said of the responses she received from the area’s shop owners and community activists she approached when searching for a venue. As for the Democrats, she said that they meet “everywhere.”

She was encouraged by a 2004 gathering she sponsored at a member’s West 95th Street home the week of the Republican National Convention that drew some 50 attendees and featured speeches by West Side Republican candidates including myself, then the district’s State Assembly candidate. She appointed Mr. Walden as president after he volunteered in 2005 to collect signatures for Republican candidates. “I made a good choice,” she said of his appointment. “We need some devoted hard workers to get the word out that [the club] is here,” she said. “He really proved himself.”

“The club is here to provide a home and an outlet for Republicans who feel isolated here on the Upper West Side,” a determined Walden said. “We need to let [the Upper West Side] know that there is a place where Republicans can meet and discuss issues and let people get involved in the process. We need to let [the neighborhood] know that there is another point-of-view.”

Mirroring the constituency of the 69th Assembly District – which runs from West 83rd Street on Central Park, zigzags across Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues to Broadway and West 96th Street, then runs all the way into Harlem stopping at 125th Street – the club’s membership is more than 50% minority. And whether good or bad, unlike many of the neighborhood’s Democratic clubs, the Fighting 69th cannot boast of having a single millionaire as a member.

Kenneth Selmer, a 49-year-old African-American insurance salesman travels more than 60 blocks from his home in Washington Heights to attend the meetings. A childhood friend of Mr. Walden, the two were recently reunited – and like twins separated at birth – when the conversation turned to politics, Mr. Walden stated, “You know, I’m Republican.” A delighted Selmer replied, “So am I!” Mr. Walden then told him of the new club and said “come on over!”

“There are a lot more Black Republicans than people realize,” Mr. Selmer said. He said that Republicans don’t feel accepted in the city and that he doesn’t like the way the Democratic political machine works – with major party chairmen picking representatives with little regard for the will of the party’s smaller constituents – and he hopes that the club will expand opportunities for the area’s minorities and women. His votes helped put Mayor Giuliani and Mayor Bloomberg over the top in four elections.

In 2005, with the help of myself as a captain on the Bloomberg campaign’s Hispanic outreach team, and Lolita Ferrin and Shelton Walden, who accompanied the mayor on walking tours on the district’s northern edge, the mayor scored a historic victory in the 69th A.D., defeating Fernando Ferrer with 14,061 votes on the Republican line to 13,048 on the Democratic – turning around Mark Green’s huge numbers in the 2001 election.

And the club has attracted the attention of the president of the Columbia University College Republicans, the youthful Ann Klibaner. The campus sits prominently in the center of the 69th A.D., and members of both clubs anticipate the arrival of Senator McCain, a Republican of Arizona – the party’s leading presidential contender – when he speaks at commencement on May 16.

“Right now, we’re nor a glamorous club,” Lolita Ferrin said. “But we have a lot of devoted, loyal people who are willing to get out there and get hot and dirty,” and do work for Republicans. “We’re building our militia. That’s why were the Fighting 69th!”

And as for Mr. X: The club’s members would really like to meet him. As Ms. Ferrin said, “It’s one thing to say [in public] you’re Republican,” contrasting those who are willing to admit it with those like us club members who are willing to do something about it. Mr. X hasn’t even done that. Maybe now he can.

Mr. Lanzillotti is a Republican Associate District Leader in Manhattan’s 69th Assembly District. He was the 2004 State Assembly candidate. He is also a freelance journalist and independent film producer.