Virginia's 8th District Republican Committee

If you haven’t already heard, Arlington GOP chairman Mark Kelly is running for Arlington County Board in the March 27th special election to fill the seat vacated by state Sen. Barbara Favola. Mark makes an excellent candidate and needs your help to get the campaign going strong with just six weeks until the election. The Kelly campaign will hold a kickoff this Wednesday, February 15th at 7:00 pm at the home of Steve & Harriet Pearson, 3542 North Dickerson Road in Arlington (map). Tickets are $50/person or $30 for Young Republicans, with sponsorships at $100, $250, and $1000. RSVP online here. Also, if you want to volunteer for the campaign, sign up online here.

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Unit committees have announced the process for becoming delegates to the 8th District Convention on May 12th. If you want to be a delegate to the 8th District Convention, you need to sign up as a delegate through your local unit committee (Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, or Fairfax) or visit their websites or get in touch with the 8th District Committee (va8gopchairman@hotmail.com) and we will help direct you to the right folks to speak to. The deadlines for signing up as a delegate will be set by the respective unit committees.

Deadlines for signing up to be a delegate to the 8th District Republican Convention through your unit committee:

City of Alexandria residents: Sign up by March 13, 2012 with the Alexandria Republican City Committee.

Arlington residents: Sign up by February 22, 2012 with the Arlington County Republican Committee.

Fairfax County residents: Sign up by March 10, 2012 with the Fairfax County Republican Committee.

Falls Church residents: TBA

The convention call has been updated to reflect changes in the delegate numbers for Fairfax County as a result of redistricting. See the 2012 Convention page to see the revised call.

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You should follow the redistricting plan passed by the General Assembly to determine which district convention to go to. For example, if the plan moves you from the 8th District to the 11th District, you should go to the 11th District Convention. Get more details here.

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The filing deadline for offices to be elected at the convention is fast approaching. The deadline is Friday, February 24th at 5:00 pm to file to run for chairman of the 8th District Republican Committee, representative to the State Central Committee, delegate/alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention, and elector in the Electoral College. Those wishing to run for any of these offices must file 1) a signed written statement stating their intention to run for the office and 2) the required filing fee with the 8th District Republican Committee Chairman Mike Ginsberg no later than 5:00 pm on the 24th at 1276 North Wayne St. in Arlington (map). Note that all filings must be received by that time and date – a postmark on the 24th does not count. See the convention call for filing fees and details.

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Absentee voting for the March 6th presidential primary is happening now. See the valid reasons for voting absentee here. You can vote absentee in person through March 3rd at your county/city elections office listed here. To vote absentee by mail, you must apply by February 28th, and absentee ballots must be received by March 6th at 7:00 pm. Download an absentee ballot application here.

Convention Filing Deadlines

The filing deadline for offices to be elected at the convention is fast approaching. The deadline is Friday, February 24th at 5:00 pm to file to run for chairman of the 8th District Republican Committee, representative to the State Central Committee, delegate/alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention, and elector in the Electoral College. Those wishing to run for any of these offices must file 1) a signed written statement stating their intention to run for the office and 2) the required filing fee with the 8th District Republican Committee Chairman Mike Ginsberg no later than 5:00 pm on the 24th at 1276 North Wayne St. in Arlington (map). Note that all filings must be received by that time and date – a postmark on the 24th does not count. See the convention call for filing fees and details.

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Mark Kelly for Arlington County Board

Arlington GOP Chairman Mark Kelly has announced that he is running for the Arlington County Board in the special election to fill the seat vacated by Barbara Favola. The special election is on March 27th. Learn more about Mark’s campaign at his website here.

Mark needs your help on this extremely short campaign. He needs to raise funds and build an organization quickly, because the election is less than two months away. Please consider making a donation here.

The Arlington precinct operations team will be out at polling stations on the Virginia presidential primary day, March 6, helping to spread the word about Mark’s campaign. Can you help? Visit the campaign website and get in touch — they will help get you set up and ready to help the campaign.

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Redistricting Update

The General Assembly has passed a congressional redistricting plan. Under the Voting Rights Act, the plan must receive approval from the U.S. Department of Justice in addition to the signature of Governor Bob McDonnell. We believe these lines will likely be the final lines. The biggest change to the 8th District under the plan is that the portion of Reston which is currently in the 8th District becomes part of the 11th District.

Click here to view the planned precinct list.

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Presidential Primary

The Virginia presidential primary, part of Super Tuesday, is about a month away! The March 6th primary is open to all registered voters who will be at least 18 years old by the general election on November 6th. (17 year olds may vote in the primary as long as they turn 18 on or before November 6th.) If you are not a registered voter, the deadline to register to be eligible to vote in the primary is February 13th.

In-person absentee voting is going on now through March 3rd at your city/county elections office, listed on the second page of this document. Applications to vote absentee by mail are due February 28th. Click here to download the application form.

Please note that only Ron Paul and Mitt Romney qualified for the primary ballot in Virginia, and write-ins are not permitted.

Also, the State Central Committee voted to rescind the requirement that presidential primary voters sign a statement of intent to vote for the Republican nominee in the general election. Presidential primary voters will not be required to sign any statement of intent.

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Congressional Primaries

The primary for the U.S. Senate race and the 8th District congressional race (if necessary) has tentatively been set for June 12th, but the General Assembly appears likely to move the primary back to sometime in August to allow for the redistricting plan to be finalized. Stay tuned.

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Collecting Signatures

Our Senate and House candidates need your help to get on the primary ballot! State law requires candidates for the U.S. Senate to gather 10,000 signatures of voters, including at least 400 from each congressional district. Any person qualified to vote in Virginia may gather signatures.

Patrick Murray — To help, contact Shari Bolouri at shari@cardinalevents.com.

George Allen — To help, contact Tim Nussbaum at tnussbaum@georgeallen.com.

E.W. Jackson — To help, contact info@jacksonforvirginia.org or 757-802-4246.

David McCormick — To help, contact heat@davidmccormicksenate.com or 757-749-8528.

Jamie Radtke — To help, contact 804-451-5985.

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New Upcoming Events

Check out our Upcoming Events page for a list of GOP events throughout the 8th District and Northern Virginia, including a Mitt Romney reception, candidate forums, and more! The calendar is updated at least once a week so be sure to check it regularly!

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Rick Santorum Campaign Call from Home Program

The Rick Santorum presidential campaign has a call from home program allowing you to make volunteer calls on behalf of the campaign to voters in key battleground states from the comfort of your home! Sign up here.

Arlington County Republican Committee Chairman Mark Kelly is running for Arlington County Board! There will be a special election on March 27th, 2012 to fill the seat vacated by Barbara Favola, who was elected to the state Senate in 2011.

“Arlington deserves an independent-minded board member who will recognize the challenges we face and who is committed to solving these problems, not another voice for the status quo,” Kelly told the Sun Gazette. Mark is a dedicated Republican and we will do all we can to help him. Check out his website here. Go Mark!

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The Fairfax County Republican Committee has tentatively set its convention for Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 10:00 am at West Springfield High School. Details TBA.

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Our links that appeared on the right side of the site have been moved to their own page and have been organized for better access. Be sure to check it out!

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The Rick Santorum for President campaign has a call-from-home program that allows you to contact voters in states with upcoming primaries from home – all you need is a phone and a computer, and you can help the campaign. To sign up or learn more, go to the Call from Home site.

Also, if you know of other volunteer opportunities with presidential campaigns, contact va8gopchairman@hotmail.com and we’ll publish them in the newsletter, and contact webmaster@vagop8cd.org and we’ll publish them here.

Several folks have asked about how redistricting will affect the process of signing up to be delegates and which convention individuals should attend. Delegates to the convention must be from their current district at the time of the convention. If, for example, you are currently in the 8th Congressional District but are moved to the 11th Congressional District prior to the 8th District Convention, you will be eligible to be a voting delegate to the 11th District Convention, not the 8th District Convention. We will keep abreast of all developments in the redistricting process and will work with folks to assist them in attending the correct convention. — Mike Ginsberg

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The Rick Santorum for President campaign has a call-from-home program that allows you to contact voters in states with upcoming primaries from home – all you need is a phone and a computer, and you can help the campaign. To sign up or learn more, go to the Call from Home site.

Also, if you know of other volunteer opportunities with presidential campaigns, contact va8gopchairman@hotmail.com and we’ll publish them in the newsletter, and contact webmaster@vagop8cd.org and we’ll publish them here.

The General Assembly will convene for the 2012 Regular Session on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, at noon at the State Capitol in Richmond. Congratulations to our newly-elected and re-elected Republicans in the General Assembly, especially our two new Republican senators, Bryce Reeves and Bill Stanley! The GOP has a 68-seat majority in the House of Delegates, the largest majority for either party in the history of the state. Republicans also control the Senate with 20 seats and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling casting the tiebreaking vote as president of the Senate. For the first time since the Civil War, the GOP now controls both houses of the General Assembly and the governorship. Now let’s get to work!

In-person absentee voting for the presidential primary begins Friday, January 20. Click here to find where you can vote absentee in person.

Under state law, candidates for the House of Representatives must gather 1,000 valid signatures from registered voters in the 8th District, and candidates for U.S. Senate are required to gather 10,000 valid signatures of registered voters, including a minimum of 400 from each congressional district, to get on the primary ballot on June 12th. If you’re interested in getting involved with a campaign, this is a great way to help, and the campaigns need a lot of help to get the signatures.

Patrick Murray — To help, contact Shari Bolouri at shari@cardinalevents.com.

George Allen — To help, contact Tim Nussbaum at tnussbaum@georgeallen.com.

E.W. Jackson — To help, contact info@jacksonforvirginia.org or 757-802-4246.

David McCormick — To help, contact heat@davidmccormicksenate.com or 757-749-8528.

Jamie Radtke — To help, contact 804-451-5985.

The convention call posted here yesterday said that the registration fee was “$15.00 (Thirty-five dollars and zero cents)”. The fee is $15.00, and the error has been corrected in the official call.

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As you may know, 8th District State Central Representative Michael Giere resigned from his position this week because he has recently moved out of the 8th congressional district. He wrote the following open letter to the Republicans of the 8th District, and asked us to send it on his behalf, which we are happy to do. We also want to thank Mike for his dedicated and exemplary service to the 8th District and the 8th District Committee.

The open letter from Michael Giere:

Dear friends,

Four years ago I had the honor of being elected as one of your State Central Committee members to the state party (RPV) for the 8th Congressional District. I promised you then that I would uphold and reflect your conservative values and positions. I also promised to fight as hard as I knew how to do, to help save the House of Delegates that was within a few seats of flipping to a Democrat majority.

I have upheld the first promise even when I was being pressured mightily not to do so; and because of you and thousands of other conservatives across the Commonwealth, not only did we save the HOD, we elected a huge majority and elected the top three spots in our state government in 2009.

Now, due to changed circumstances in my personal life, I have moved literally into the neighboring 11th District (where Connolly is the Congressman – yikes!). Because of this change, I am resigning my seat on the SCC effective immediately (my term ends in May 2012).

I have made so many friends over these four years, and it has been such an honor to represent you; I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to serve you, and I hope that our paths cross frequently during our yearly NoVA election cycles.

May God’s rich blessings be with you, and may God continue to bless our Republic and the men and women who defend her.

Michael Giere