Virginia's 8th District Republican Committee

We now have the official call for the 2012 8th District Republican Committee Convention. The Convention will be held on Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 10:00 am at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington.

At the Convention we will be doing the following:

1. Electing three delegates and three alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention,
2. Nominating one elector to cast one of Virginia’s votes in the Electoral College in the general election,
3. Electing an 8th District Chairman, and
4. Electing three members to the Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee.

More details and the full call are on the 2012 Convention page.

Download the convention call:
PDF
.doc (Microsoft Word)

Also, the 8th District Republican Committee voted last night to hold a primary for the 8th District congressional race if there are multiple candidates.

Presidential candidates need the signatures of 10,000 Virginia voters to appear on the ballot for the primary. It is the responsibility of the state party to verify that the petition requirements have been met. The Republican Party of Virginia needs volunteers to come to their headquarters in Richmond, 115 East Grace St. (map), on Friday, December 23rd to help with the process. Please read the letter below from RPV Chairman Pat Mullins (click to zoom in), and sign up to volunteer here.

There’s a lot going on at the Fairfax County Republican Committee! First, current FCRC Chairman Anthony Bedell is stepping down as he promised he would from the beginning after serving out this term, his second. Anthony has done a fantastic job of building the Fairfax County GOP, and under his chairmanship, Fairfax County went red for Bob McDonnell in 2009. Two candidates have entered the race for chairman – Jay McConville and Matt Ames. The election will be held at the Fairfax County Republican Committee Convention in the spring of 2012 (date TBD).

Second, FCRC is currently accepting applications for internships for students for 2012. Applications are being accepted for winter and spring internships. This will be a very exciting time to work for the FCRC in the heat of a presidential race and a Senate race. The internships are open to middle school, high school, and college students. See the details below.

Congratulations to the Alexandria Republican City Committee for winning the award for best unit committee in the entire state! See this message from 8th District GOP Chairman Mike Ginsberg with the recap of all award winners.

Each year, coincident with the Advance, the RPV District Committees give awards to their top units, unit chairmen, and volunteers.  This year, the 8th District had some terrific award winners.  The 2011 8th District GOP award winners were:

Best Volunteers:  Brian Pandya (Arlington), Roz Bellis (Alexandria), and Marianne Coates (Alexandria).  Brian has been the precinct operations co-chair for the Arlington GOP in the last three election cycles.  In that time, they have recruited precinct captains in nearly every precinct, and have ensured coverage at each polling place on election day for providing sample ballots and other important election day information to voters.  Roz and Marianne have co-chaired the Alexandria GOP precinct operations for the last several cycles, and they too have organized one of the deepest precinct operations networks the Alexandria GOP has had.  All three have played an essential role in the Arlington GOP’s and Alexandria GOP’s grassroots efforts over several election cycles, and for that, they are the top volunteers of the year for 2011.

Best Unit Chair:  Mark Kelly, Arlington GOP.  In August, with the 2011 election right around the corner and campaign activities beginning to move into high gear, Mark stepped up and filled the vacancy in the chairmanship of the Arlington GOP.  Although time was short and there was much work to do to prepare for the 2011 elections, Mark ensured that the Arlington GOP did not skip a beat.  The campaign headquarters was its usual bustling self around election time, and all of the committee’s activities — fundraising, precinct operations, phone banking — went off smoothly thanks to Mark’s leadership.

Best Unit: Alexandria.  The Alexandria GOP had a strong year, designing and launching a new website and fielding a candidate for local office (Chris Marston for Clerk of Court). The committee organized itself for this local race and for the several state Senate races in Alexandria.

AND IN EXCITING NEWS: In addition to being awarded the 8th District top unit, the Alexandria GOP was selected by RPV, the state party, as the top GOP unit of 2011!  This is a tremendous honor and a tribute to the hard work of the party not just this year, but over the last several cycles where success in Alexandria has meant success for many GOP candidates, including Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli.  Congratulations to Tom Fulton and Brenda Hankins, who both served as Alexandria GOP chairman in 2011, and to all of the volunteers and members of the Alexandria GOP for this great success and honor.

December 7, 1941:

From 8th District GOP Chairman Mike Ginsberg

As you know, the GOP had an historic Election 2011. The GOP captured two additional seats in the State Senate, resulting in a 20-20 tie with the tiebreaking votes being cast by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. We also gained seven seats in the House of Delegates, giving the GOP 68 seats in the House, a historic high. For only the second time since Reconstruction, the GOP controls the governorship and both houses of the General Assembly. Gov. McDonnell will now have the opportunity to continue and expand upon his extremely popular and extremely successful agenda.

Locally, we did not prevail in our State Senate races, but each of the candidates did extremely well and the numbers suggest that we are heading into 2012 in a strong position.

In the 31st Senate District, Caren Merrick took 42% of the vote. In the 32nd SD, Patrick Forrest got nearly 40% against longtime incumbent Janet Howell in a district specially gerrymandered for her.  Miller Baker won 47% in the 39th Senate District, and Tim McGhee won 35%, which is solid for a very tough district for Republicans.

These results demonstrate that in Northern Virginia, there is strong and growing support for the Republican Party.  Despite the extremely careful gerrymandering by the Senate Democrats of the State Senate districts in Northern Virginia, Republicans were still able to win more than 40 percent in these districts. Moreover, looking at all of the State Senate votes statewide, Republicans received more than 200,000 votes than Democrats. This bodes well for statewide races next year. (This fact was documented in Friday’s Wall Street Journal column by Kimberley Strassel.)

While we hoped to prevail in more races in Northern Virginia, the fact that we did not despite the strong showing is in large measure a testament to the effectiveness of the gerrymandering of the State Senate lines. Despite this, the GOP still managed to take effective control of the State Senate. Moreover, the effectiveness of our candidates in Northern Virginia forced the Democrats to expend precious resources here rather than in other parts of the state, helping to enable GOP victories elsewhere in Virginia.

Locally, our candidates acquitted them selves extremely well. Chris Marston ran a tremendous race in Alexandria for Clerk of the Court, Spike Williams ran a strong race for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Bill Cooper ran a strong race for Fiarfax County Sheriff, and we had several candidates run spirited races for supervisor. John Cook was reelected as Braddock District Supervisor, and Pat Herrity and Michael Frey were also re-elected in their respective districts.

Thank you to all of our volunteers from 2011. With your help, we won a working majority in the State Senate and expanded our seats in the House of Delegates to historic highs. Your hard work and dedication, your donations, and your support made all of this possible.

Thank you to everyone who served as a precinct captain in 2011.  Precinct captains are an especially vital part of our election operations. They contact Republican voters in their precicts to make sure they vote and get volunteers to distribute sample ballots at the polling place on election day. It’s an essential role in election operations, and a lot of work before and during election day. It’s greatly appreciated and we hope you will serve as precinct captains again in 2012. If you are thinking about getting more involved with the party, becoming a precinct captain is a great way to do that.

Now it’s on to 2012, and perhaps one of the most critical elections in our nation’s history. We hope we can count on your support next year!

– Mike Ginsberg
Chairman, 8th District Republican Committee

***

From Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling

Last Tuesday, Virginians gave our Republican party a historic victory, historic responsibility and historic opportunity.

In the House of Delegates, Republicans added 7 seats bringing our total to 68 Republicans – the highest number in Virginia history. In the State Senate, Republicans picked up 2 seats bringing our total to 20.  When you add in my tie-breaking vote, that gives us an effective Republican majority in the Senate as well.  This is only the second time Republicans have controlled the Governor’s Office, Senate and House of Delegates at the same time.

However, the number of seats we picked up in the House and Senate doesn’t tell the full story.  Statewide, our Republican House candidates received over 757,000 votes, or 61% of the votes cast in all House races.  Likewise, our Republican Senate candidates received over 771,000, or 57% of all votes cast in Senate races. We won 16 of 19 open seats, and every Republican incumbent seeking re-election won.

Through these decisive victories Virginians signaled their approval of the McDonnell/Bolling administration’s common sense, conservative and results oriented leadership. They understood the importance of giving us the team we need to implement our vision for the future of Virginia.

This is a responsibility we do not take lightly.  As Governor McDonnell said last week, this is not a time for us to be arrogant.  It is a time for us to lead.  We will remain true to our conservative values and focus on fiscal responsibility, budgetary restraint, reforming government and providing economic opportunity for all Virginia families.  We will also apply these conservative principles to provide solutions to the education, transportation and health care challenges facing Virginia today.

As a result of Tuesday’s election, Virginians have also given me a unique responsibility and opportunity in the Senate.  With the Senate equally divided at 20-20, it will fall on me, as President of the Senate, to cast the deciding vote on many important issues in the months to come.  This is a responsibility I take very seriously, and I assure you that I will do so with the utmost respect for the responsibility placed in me by the Constitution of Virginia.

Finally, I want to thank candidates from both parties for offering themselves up for public service.  I want to congratulate all of those who were elected and re-elected.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.  For the candidates who came up short, I hope they will remain actively involved in the political process and public service.

I also want to thank Governor McDonnell, Attorney General Cuccinelli, Senator Norment, Speaker Howell, Chairman Mullins and all of our congressional and legislative allies who worked so hard to make last week’s victories possible.  Most importantly, I want to thank the thousands of grassroots activists who tirelessly made the phone calls, knocked on the doors and passed out the literature needed to deliver our positive message of common sense, results oriented leadership to every corner of the Commonwealth.  Clearly, none of our successes would be possible without their selfless dedication to our common cause.

Now, let’s get to work!
Very truly yours,
Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling

On this Veterans Day, let us never forget the true meaning of this holiday. On this day, we remember the millions of brave men and women who risked and gave their lives for our liberty. We remember all who serve, past and present. Let us never falter in our unwavering commitment to our troops.

It’s the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It’s the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It’s the soldier, not the politicians, who ensures our right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives the protestor the right to burn the flag.

Here are a few organizations to support our veterans — there are many more out there worthy of support.

Honor Flight Network — Organization dedicated to getting as many WWII veterans, our greatest generation, to the WWII memorial as possible before it is too late. http://www.honorflight.org/

Rolling Thunder — POW/MIA advocacy organization http://www.rollingthunder1.com/about.html

No Greater Sacrifice — Supporting the families of our fallen men and women. http://www.nogreatersacrifice.org/

United Service Organization (USO) — In service of our troops. http://www.uso.org/

American Legion — Serving our veterans. http://www.legion.org/

God Bless America.