It was a busy, successful weekend at the 2010 Donald W. Huffman Republican Party of Virginia Advance.  Over 600 activists from around the Commonwealth came together at the Hilton in Tysons Corner to meet, celebrate an extremely successful 2010 cycle, take part in training sessions and seminars, and hear from elected officials and party leaders about their plans for the future.

Congratulations to our 8th District Award Winners.  One of the highlights of the weekend was the presentation of the volunteer awards to the 8th District volunteers of the year, unit of the year, and unit chair of the year.  Congratulations to our volunteers of the year, Tommy Valentine, the webmaster of RetireJimMoran.com and the creator of the viral video of Jim Moran’s military service comments (who received a standing ovation for his efforts) and Jack Kenny, who prepared walk binders of every precinct in the 8th District that were used to great effect by the Murray campaign and the local precinct operations.  Our unit of the year was the Falls Church GOP Committee and its chairman Bruce Swenson, which has for the last two years done painstaking door-to-door voter ID efforts in Falls Church.  Congratulations also to unit chair of the year, Brenda Hankins of the Alexandria GOP, chosen for her tireless efforts on the Retire Jim Moran program and organizing a top-notch election day effort that included the use of BlackBerries, poll watchers inside the polls, and GOTV calls on election day.  Brenda was also recognized by the RPV’s awards committee as one of the top unit chairs in the entire state.

The Advance also featured speeches from the new House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, Congressman Bob Goodlatte, newly-elected Congressmen Scott Rigell and Robert Hurt, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, and the evening gala’s keynote speaker, Sen. Rick Santorum.

The RPV State Central Committee also took several important votes at the State Central Committee meeting on the afternoon of November 20.  The committee voted to hold a primary to select its statewide nominee for the U.S. Senate is 2012.  It also considered amendments to the Party Plan that would have allowed the committee to charge delegate fees for conventions nominating candidates for public office (state conventions, district conventions, and legislative district conventions, but not unit conventions) of up to $50 and candidate filing fees of up to $25,000 for candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and U.S. Senate.  Both proposed amendments were not approved.

Finally, the 8th District Committee, along with the Young Conservatives Coalition, Arlington/Falls Church YRs, and the Young Republican Federation of Virginia, co-hosted a hospitality suite at the Advance.  It was a great success, with over 100 people coming through.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by.

Thank you to all of the 8th District residents who attended the Advance.  Looking forward to a great election cycle in 2011!

— Mike Ginsberg